What If?
by ShelbyGT1987
Summary: What if Kagome wasn't from the future? What if she was really from the past, long before Inuyasha and all the others were born? What if Kagome lied? Who could say? Does anybody really even know her? No, no one does. Except one man - one daiyoukai. This is their story.
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi_

**Welcome to the newly-renovated edition of my story,****_ What If? _****I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

_What if Kagome wasn't from the future?  
__What if Kagome was really from the _past:_ long before Inuyasha was conceived, before Sango and Miroku's _grandparents_ were born?  
__What if Kagome _lied_?  
__Kagome has always been a happy-go-lucky girl, content to follow Inuyasha and their friends on a quest to defeat Naraku, though she has no real grudge toward him, and destroy the Jewel of the Four Souls, though her life has not personally been touched by its power.  
__What is she doing here?  
__She's incredibly powerful under her seemingly naive exterior, but she seldom draws that power to the surface.  
__That's all anyone knows about her.  
__Except one man_—_one daiyoukai._

_This is their story._

* * *

**Prologue**

The priests all knew what was to come.

For years, they had harbored among them knowledge of a prophecy, one which foretold of a child born to Ryūjin-sama and one of his mortal lovers. Which lover that would be was of some question, until she inadvertently revealed herself to those awaiting the signs. The woman had shown some glimpse of power, power that should have only belonged to a kami—power that did not belong to any kami in existence, and there were many hundreds in total. Only then did it become certain: _this_ woman, this pathetic mortal scrap of a human, was to bear a child that would one day destroy the Jewel of Four Souls that had so recently come into being.

The children of kami, if raised in the ways of their immortal kin, could be at their height of power and maturity within seconds of their physical birth. Likewise, it could take centuries for a particularly powerful kami to fully mature.

It was a chance the priests, ever mindful of the prophecy, could not take. The Jewel could not be destroyed, not yet. There were lives to be changed, souls to be forged in its wake. If this child were born and fully manifested before those lives had been altered, who knew what havoc that could wreak on the mortal realm?

No, far lesser was the risk of killing the babe before it could become the destroyer of the Jewel, and waiting for another to fulfill the prophecy. Rather that than have the power source banished before its time had come.

And so, after a tortuous labor, the mortal lover of the kami and her newborn child were cast into the sea, and left for dead. Ryūjin-sama need never know of this act of fate. Instead, the priests gave the servants some story of her death in childbed, and quietly celebrated their victory.

* * *

On the shore of a remote village many leagues from Ryūgū-jō, a lone inu-daiyōkai stood. Despite his long years filled with many gruesome sights, the one before him still shook him to his core.

For at his feet lay two figures: the grey, exhausted face of a woman and, partly hidden beneath her chest, a mewling infant. The daiyōkai's golden eyes skipped over the woman with pity, for she was clearly dead. Instead, he focused on the babe. It was a strange child, he thought. While it had likely been lying there for hours before he had stumbled upon it if the smell coming from the mother were any indication of time, it still did not cry outright. It made a pitiful, keening whine instead, much like a newborn pup seeking its mother's teat.

Holding his breath, the daiyōkai bent at the waist and gently pushed the dead woman off of her child. The weight would probably crush the babe before long. As soon as the dead woman had been removed, the babe's scrunched up, mewling features went lax. Then, it opened large, grey-blue eyes and _looked_ at the great dog demon.

The yōkai started. This was not the passing glance of an infant taking in its surroundings. This was the piercing stare of a sentient creature, something that understood exactly what it seeing and sought to analyze it. It was unsettling, to say the least—and yet, there in the infant's grey-blue gaze bleary with exhaustion, the inu-yōkai saw someone else. Someone else who had judged him in exactly this way on the day of his own birth: the dog lord's own young son, Sesshōmaru.

After a moment, it became apparent that whatever the bizarre infant saw in the daiyōkai, it liked. It let out a happy giggle that soon dissolved into a gurgle—the poor thing was clearly starving—and it lifted its pudgy arms, demanding to be picked up.

The yōkai did not want to touch the babe, for fear of leaving his scent on it. He had many powerful enemies, enemies that would gleefully ignore this child's human and immortal heritage and assume, out of spite, that it belonged to him and slay it. But neither could he just leave it out here to die. Clearly, this child was something special. He wasn't quite certain where it came from, but he had his suspicions. If they were correct, this child was meant for far greater things than a death of starvation on a dry, sandy beach. He wanted to watch this babe as it grew and developed into its fate.

Decision made, he drew one of the three swords resting in wooden sheaths at various points on his person and, raising it above his head, created an enormous explosion, one that rocked the foundations of the earth and created a beam of light that could be seen from many miles around.

Focusing his keen ears, the daiyōkai listened as the shrine back in the trees not far from the beach began buzzing with activity, and knew that some of their priests or priestesses would soon be out here to investigate and inspect the damage.

Satisfied that the babe would be well looked-after by the holy tenders of the shrine and raised in a place where he could easily check up on it, the yōkai fled the area and returned home to his wife and young son, his thoughts still consumed with the image of a startlingly intelligent, grey-eyed infant.


	2. Chapter One

_Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi_

**Author's Note: **The meaning of the name Kagome is completely fictional. As you all probably know from the series by now, Takahashi intended for her name to be a foreshadowing of her sealed powers, from the game 'Kagome, Kagome' and the Kagome crest. Also, I have finally given the Inu no Taishō and his demonness names (Kōji "blessed ruler" and Miharu "beautiful clear sky") though they too have been created by me for the purposes of this story and none other.

* * *

**Chapter One**

"Kagome" was not an established name in any time period of Japan thus far. It was a sound used in many games to depict being lost, or when playing the game, "Kagome, Kagome," in which it denoted a trapped animal. With no standard meaning to this sound, it was generally thought that "Kagome" itself meant _lost_.

This was the name given to the infant found on the beach.

The mother was cremated, her ashes scattered and honored appropriately, but no one knew her name, or the name of the baby. No one claimed either as theirs. So, left without family or identity, the babe was named Kagome, and raised by the miko of the temple. She was reared as the child those women could never have, for, being miko, they were forbidden to ever marry and, by extension, have children.

The head priest of the shrine deemed her worthy of becoming a miko herself when she was old enough and so, to that end, she was trained daily. At first, the basics: reading, writing, poetry, conversation, and above all, manners. Kagome excelled at every task set before her, to the delight and pride of the miko. After those had been mastered, the child advanced to simple spells and the use of various weaponry.

However, it soon became apparent that wherever this girl had come from—whatever her parentage had been—she was _not_ human.

Alabaster skin was prized in women of this era, but even to their appreciative eyes, this girl was naturally, flawlessly _white_. Her skin nearly glowed, especially under cover of night, when she was touched by the moon. Her hair was a thick, lustrous black that shone almost blue in the light. As if those stunning attributes weren't enough, there were her eyes.

Nearly all eye colors in Japan were, at this time, variations of dark brown on through black. Kagome's eyes, however, were... different. They actually _changed_ hues, depending on her mood. It was just as common to see them slate gray and ice blue as it was to see the deepest, sapphire-blue anyone had beheld. Very rarely, Kagome's eyes would even turn to shades of green, and this quickly became a universal sign to the miko that Kagome's generally patient aura had reached its limit, and that she was in a particularly dangerous mood.

Despite these potent attractors, Kagome was still seen as a very odd child—even to the extent that she was feared by some of the more superstitious passerby. The one thing that almost always caused astonishment in the shrine visitors, and even on occasion (despite how accustomed they had grown to her eccentricities) the miko themselves, was Kagome's voice.

The miko knew that the child _had_ a voice, of course. She was not, by any means, a mute. As a babe, she had made small, mewling noises when she was hungry or needed to be changed and so on, though she never outright cried. As a toddler, she had made similar low-pitched humming sounds indicating her needs, but she never threw tantrums, never screamed or hollered.

When it came time for her to learn how to speak, Kagome had kept her voice modulated so low in pitch and sound that the ladies had had to strain to hear her, and even then only some could. It was clear the girl was intelligent: she was literate, and had no problems expressing her thoughts and feelings through writing. It just seemed speaking wasn't her preferred method of conferring those ideas.

Why would a child of such otherwise grace, beauty, and intelligence willingly render herself mute? Certainly, quiet, docile women were the more popular of the age, but Kagome took it to a new extreme. She never made a sound unless absolutely called upon to do so, and even then, never raised her voice above a low, almost silent, hum. The miko just couldn't understand it.

But the inu-daiyōkai who had discovered her could, and delighted in the confirmation it provided of his earliest suspicions.

* * *

For years, the dog general had watched the babe he had found on that lonely beach grow into a young woman. His visits were not frequent, but he came to the shrine to check up on her with enough regularity that his yōki had become familiar to Kagome and the rest of the shrine maidens. He knew this only because the flared reiki resulting from his visits had diminished to all but nothing on his more recent excursions.

Even after over a decade of watching this seemingly simple human, he was still as fascinated as he had been on that first, fated afternoon. He was now perfectly confident in what she was, and what her powers could develop into, but he was still constantly surprised by her actions. For example, the voice issue that had her benefactors so concerned. Why bother? He knew that, being what she was, Kagome's voice would undoubtedly be enchanting to true humans. They would be beguiled by its inherent sweetness, its clarity of sound, its perfect charm, and would have little to no control of their desire to please her, to keep hearing that voice. It was the mark of all the gods.

For that was clearly what this child was. He knew not which kami had sired her, though he had some ideas on _that_ front as well, but it was clear as day that she had at least some immortal kin. Her lustrous skin and inhuman grace alone might have indicated a yōkai heritage, but her eyes made it certain beyond a doubt. Only the kami had eyes that expressed so much, and only _one_ kami at that. But that was speculation for another day.

Why should she bother to keep her voice modulated so low as to not be dangerous to the humans? Why fight so hard to hide her true self for the benefit of mere mortals? It made little sense to him. Certainly, he had never believed in the common dogma of his people: that humans were disgusting, menial creatures, and that their destruction was nothing to blink at. But if her voice did little harm other than instill a compulsion to serve, was that so bad?

The little half-kami had other interesting facets to her personality that showed through her actions as well, and these were equally fascinating to the daiyōkai. The fact that she had forced her body to age according to human growth was intriguing. While by far not the most knowledgable of kami or their habits, the inu-daiyōkai was aware that most of them could alter their appearance at will, and never aged naturally.

Again, he was struck by that insatiable curiosity. _Why_? Why go to the trouble of changing your body year after year just to fit in with weak, dying humans? She had to know of yōkai, given the line of work her benefactors had chosen. Why not seek out the more advanced species, like his own, and live out her days comfortably, with the face she desired? Or _did_ she desire to age as they did?

And speaking of that "line of work"—was there no limit to the girl's potential prowess? Already, she possessed limitless potential given her celestial heritage, but to throw in the spiritual powers passed through her mortal mother's line? It was unheard of, and certainly more than a little fascinating. This girl was so painfully obviously meant for great things.

It was all so perplexing it almost angered him. If not for that unending fascination, she would have. His partner, Miharu, certainly understood his fixation on the girl even less than he did.

"_What_ could possibly be so captivating about her, Kōji?" she exclaimed on his return from one of his rare visits to the human shrine, just to sate his curiosity for the time. "She is a kami with some odd human tendencies. You've seen many like her."

"No, not like her," he countered. "The kami I've known have always known what they were and believed in their superiority for it."

"And why shouldn't they? Almost anything is superior to mortals, even those disgusting demons crawling around below the ground."

"I agree," he said, making a dismissive gesture. She was missing his point. "But don't you see? That is why she is so different. She does _not_."

Miharu sniffed disdainfully and brought up his long-held goal. "Then why do you still design to have her live with us? Clearly, she is happier with her humans."

The inu-yōkai paused. Yes, that was certainly true. The girl was happy at the moment, living with her band of celibate women and men. But it was only because she didn't know that there was any more to life. She had been reared in that shrine, and taught to see only what it showed. She was destined to be and do so much more than the mundane life offered to her there. And, not to get his hopes up _too_ greatly, she may one day prove to be a great ally.

* * *

After fifteen summers had passed since he had found Kagome washed ashore, the inu-daiyōkai decided to make his move. Somehow, he knew that he had a limited time of peace before him, and that if he were to enlist this girl's assistance and offer the time to train enough to _be_ of any assistance at all, he needed to act fast.

Still, wanting to see the extent of her latent abilities, the yōkai took great pains to disguise himself that day. The shrine maidens, Kagome in particular, had grown accustomed to his yōki and he went to great lengths to mask it as much as possible. Only one extremely spiritually sensitive could have detected him, and he honestly doubted that his efforts would bear fruit. Kagome was probably still too untrained in her spiritual abilities to sense him in this guise.

He followed her scent to the herb garden in the courtyard of the shrine. It was a lovely place, as gardens go: climbing vines and blossoming flowers everywhere, of all colors and sizes. Kagome kneeled on the ground in her miko garb, her back to Kōji, as she tended her own plot towards one corner of the garden.

"Hello, Kagome-sama," he greeted politely, bowing in wait for her to turn and expecting her to shriek in surprise, or otherwise demonstrate how she had not sensed him behind her.

But clearly she had. Showing no incredulity whatsoever, Kagome turned but stayed on the ground. She gave a barely perceptible nod of her head to dignify his bow, and the daiyōkai rose back to full height.

Calm, steel-gray eyes examined him coolly, assessing for a potential threat. She didn't recognize his appearance—and how could she have? She could not possibly remember him in his true form when he saved her as an infant, and he currently wearing the face of an average human man. Still, it was obvious in her expression that something about him set off a spark of recognition in her. His yōki? Was she truly that sensitive? That would be such a welcome surprise.

In a strong tone, taking no pains to hide her voice, the young woman said, "Hello. You're the yōkai that stays outside the shrine from time to time, aren't you? How may I help you?"

Only other kami and daiyōkai were powerful enough to ward off the charms of a kami's true voice. Having spoken so certainly, Kagome must _have_ sensed him for what he was.

"Clever little thing, huh?" Kōji chuckled, and dropped his guise. Ordinary black hair lengthened and gleamed silver, common black eyes became a glowing gold, and blunt, human nails lengthened and sharpened into powerful claws. Perhaps most impressive of all, however, was his sheer size. Mortals rarely grew past the size of adolescent daiyōkai, and with his advanced years, Kōji stood almost head and shoulders taller than any human man, and at least three handspans wider.

The girl showed minimal reaction to his sudden change of appearance: only a minute widening of her slate-gray eyes, but it was enough.

"My name is Kōji," he went on, allowing himself a moment to gloat over checking her off guard. "I'm also known as the Inu no Taishō, for my unfortunate tendency to be pulled into leading a battle."

"I'd introduce myself, but you clearly already know my name, Kōji-sama," the girl replied with a sarcastic smirk. "I repeat my earlier question: how may I help you? Is there something in the shrine that you desire? I can think of no other reason for a daiyōkai like yourself to frequent such hallowed grounds."

_Indeed_, the yōkai in question wanted to laugh. Even now, the immense, swirling reiki that permeated the very air around them was scratching his yōki painfully. He tamped down its answering surge of fury and power.

"Well, actually, I've come to see you," he answered truthfully. "You see, I was the one who discovered you as a babe, washed ashore on the beach down that path." He pointed. "I'm sure your guardians here told you the story."

"Only that I was found with a dead woman presumed to be my mother after a violent earthquake rent the area." Her skepticism of his participation in her rescue so many years ago was amusing.

"And I, the cause of that 'earthquake,'" he informed her, casually patting the hilt of one of his three swords.

She stared hard at him. "Why?"

"I have asked myself that question many a time since that day, and have come up with a different answer for every one," he told her truthfully. "But surely the child of a kami warrants such attention?"

"Kami?" Kagome had frozen, staring at him with wide eyes rapidly turning a misty blue.

"Yes. You must have realized it by now. I've watched you all your life, and you've gone to great lengths to bury your immortal heritage. Or have you another reason for forcing your body to age, and remaining mute for your life?"

"Well..." He had her there, he could tell. She was flummoxed for the first time since he'd begun this conversation, no longer sure of herself and her abilities. He had thrown her a loop, and she was desperately trying to navigate through it. "I always knew I was... _different_," she finally admitted. "But I never presumed..."

"To be fair, you are not entirely kami," Kōji explained. "Your mother, the woman found with you, was a human. Your sire, however, I believe to be one of the more powerful of all the kami: Ryūjin, lord and master of the sea. I think we can expect great things from you."

"You believe _Ryūjin_ to be my father?" the girl repeated, awestruck and skeptical. "What proof is there of this?"

"In my opinion, a substantial amount," the dog lord returned, "but that is a conversation for another day. As I'm certain you are aware, it is incredibly irritating to stand here with the combined reiki of at least a dozen miko pressing on my back. I cannot stay long."

Kagome's gaze sharpened, focusing on the daiyōkai once more and ignoring her many questions in lieu of asking just one. "Why do you come to tell me this?" she demanded. "I can't imagine any yōkai, no matter how benevolent, taking the time and patience to travel into a hallow haven just to inform a girl of her parentage."

"You'd be correct in thinking so, and I won't insult your intelligence further by prolonging my main point of being here: I may very soon be at war, Kagome-sama. Not with mortals, of course, but with other yōkai. You see, I control the Western Lands of this country, and there are many others who resent that claim. You could be an extremely powerful ally to me, should you decide to aid my cause—and get a few years' experience, of course."

The young miko peered up at him, a smirk playing at her full mouth. "Was that a form of asking for my help? I couldn't hear the question under all that ego talking."

Kōji barked out a surprised laugh, once more awed at the audacity of the girl but all the more pleased by it. At least having her around for her power would by no means bore him. "Yes, would you have rather a drawn-out, poetic plea? I usually leave the romance to my son these days."

Curious and eager to step away from the daunting question, Kagome asked politely, "How old is your son?"

"That's a difficult question for a yōkai to answer," the dog general answered honestly. "My son is far older than you, but would appear to be about the same age, physically. We more powerful yōkai age at a much, much slower rate than mortals. While thirty years could pass to a human, only one would seem to pass for one such as us. My Sesshōmaru is approaching his four hundred and seventeenth year this coming winter, and yet, physically, he appears not much older than you."

"Do kami age similarly?"

Kōji knew that the girl was trying to find some reason behind her lack of natural physical progression, but he was not quite prepared to offer her an oration on the physical attributes of immortals. It would take far too much time, time he was not prepared to give. His yōki was raging now, straining to be released and cut down the reiki irritating it.

"No, but I could explain that to you later. Will you come with me, Kagome-sama? You aren't properly protected here. On top of that, you have to hide who and what you truly are. Whispering and forcing your body to grow and change when you aren't ready is not any way to live."

Kagome looked away, biting her lip uncertainly. Quietly, she admitted, "I know. I've thought often about leaving this place, but... the women here—the miko—they've raised me. I owe them my very life. How could I just abandon them?"

"With comfort in the knowledge that you are repaying your debt," the Kōji answered easily. "If the discontent I face now is any indication, the battles to come will be far greater than any this world has seen. By joining me, you ensure that the fighting and bloodshed end that much sooner, and cause fewer casualties. By leaving them now, you are potentially saving them."

Letting out a long sigh of resignation, the girl asked one last question: "May I have your word that everything you say is true? Am I to fight for an honorable cause?"

"All that and more," the dog lord swore. "You will not only be assisting me in defending my own lands, but you will help me teach yōkai that we needn't fight each other like beasts. I'm also hoping you may help my son, in particular."

Suspiciously, she queried, "Help your son _how_?"

"Sesshōmaru has a very strong... aversion to mortals," Kōji confessed. "You, being half-mortal yourself, might be able to help him see sense. Mortals may be inferior in terms of sheer physicality, but that does not mean they are lesser beings, as he believes. I swear, he sees mortals as no better than insects."

Kagome raised her brows at that last statement. "After four hundred plus years, I doubt anything I say or do could change such strong opinions."

The Inu no Taishō nodded in seeming agreement, but kept his own thoughts on the matter private. He liked to think that, while his son was no easy person to know, he knew Sesshōmaru better than _that_.

"I realize that," he agreed. "Still, there's hope." Taking a breath, eager to change the subject, he tried to further entice her to his cause. "You will be given of section of my estate. It's a separate building from the rest, and you will have privacy there. My wife and son and I live in the other, larger building. We will, of course, visit you, and you are welcome to dine with us, and so forth. I only do this so that you don't feel crowded too soon, you understand."

Kagome nodded, thankful that she wouldn't be expected to live in the same house as his family and staff. Though she would be on the same estate, it was not quite as galling, she thought gratefully. Being thrust upon any family would be awkward, no doubt, but for a half-miko to be forced on a family of yōkai would probably rankle even the kindest of their kind.

"My guards and staff are all inuyōkai, as I am," he went on, "and they will escort you everywhere, and guard you day and night. Forgive me, Kagome-sama," he hastened to add when he saw her look of protest, "but I must insist on this. You are still far too young and inexperienced to defend yourself should a yōkai of the caliber I am used to dealing with discover your alliance with me. While you train and hone your skills at the castle, you will be guarded."

"And once I am fully able to take care of myself?" she prompted, raising her eyebrows again, this time in demand.

The Inu no Taishō grinned ruefully, but promised, "You will be free to dismiss your guard at your leisure. You drive a hard bargain, Kagome-sama."

Thinking it all over for only a second, Kagome finally nodded and announced, "I will agree to all of this on one condition: stop calling me 'sama.' I need only Kagome."


	3. Chapter Two

_Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi_

* * *

**Chapter Two**

It surprised Kagome, how little time it took for her to almost completely forget her time at the shrine. Within days of moving onto the Inu no Taishō's estate and establishing herself there as a permanent member of his forces—and even, she sometimes thought, his family—her time at the shrine, the miko she had known all her life, quickly began to feel as no more than a dream. She found herself struggling to remember even simple things, things she would have known without even thinking when she lived there. What time had the midday meal bell rung? What lesson was being taught at this time of day? Who were the miko supposed to be leaving the shrine this spring, having completed their training?

It both shocked and dismayed her, this lack of memory. She felt that she must be a horribly ungrateful girl, having so easily forgotten those who had taken her in for over a decade, trained her and loved her as the daughter they could never have. Her new guardian, Kōji-sama, tried to reassure her that this was the way of all immortals—and most yōkai, too. Time was not measured the same way to them. Passing years felt like mere minutes to those who could live for centuries, if not indefinitely. Those who were not constantly present in the lives of those immortal were quickly forgotten. Out of sight, out of mind. It sickened Kagome, and yet she had little choice in the matter.

That first day she had been brought back to the castle had done little to assuage her heavy heart, too. She had met most of Kōji-sama's guard, his upper staff, and his wife and son. The encounter with the son, Sesshōmaru, only further blackened her mood, though she really did not know what else she could have expected.

Almost off-handedly, the young yōkai prince had, on first meeting her, insulted her judgment, calling her an infant and questioning why she had forced herself to age when she clearly still had the mentality of a child. He then moved on to criticizing her parentage, stating that any human blood in her at all _had_ to make her a worthless fighter. Still not satisfied with just that, he had then finished with a "question" of why his father had asked Kagome to help him, when she was clearly of no use to anyone—she had yet to master her powers as a miko, let alone any gifts she may have from her kami heritage.

"You must excuse him," Kōji-sama had pleaded with her after the failed meeting, flushing in fury and humiliation over his son's antics. "Honestly, I've never seen him react that way before."

"You told me he didn't like mortals," Kagome had returned, sounding much more blasé about the whole thing than she really felt. "That was just him acting as you'd said."

"No," he'd answered, confounded, shaking his head. "Well, I mean, yes, he does despite humans—for some reason or other I'll never understand. But I've never seen him react so violently against a person at first sight. Especially a potential ally, and a half-kami one, at that."

"I should think it would be obvious," his wife—and, it seemed to Kagome, bitter enemy—had said then from across the room. Kagome had started fiercely, still getting used to the superior senses of the yōkai she now lived with.

"How so?" the dog general had asked curiously.

Their marriage was somewhat confusing to Kagome. It had been arranged out of duty and desire to keep power within a family: as soon as the Inu no Taishō had taken over the Western Lands centuries ago, it had quickly become clear that he would need an heir to inherit after he passed on. Seeking a wife with as much power and affluence as himself, he had chosen his current consort, and, as luck would have it, conceived a son the first try. There had been no "second try" after that. They didn't share a room—they hardly shared a home. They regarded each other with a disdainful, reluctant respect, which seemed both conflicting and perfectly natural on them. One moment they would bicker and flirt as though they were newlyweds—the next they would say some of the most hurtful, barbed comments Kagome had ever heard.

She'd given up trying to figure out their true feelings for each other almost as soon as she met them. It just wasn't worth the headache.

"If I know my son like I believe I do," Miharu had stated, and her slow smile had dared anyone to challenge this belief, "his actions could stem from one of two reasons. He's either intimidated by her, or he's interested in her. Both of which make him feel out of control of his emotions, which everyone knows Sesshōmaru can't stand above all else."

The Inu no Taishō and she had laughed deeply at this assessment, while Kagome, not yet knowing their son as they did, was left to sit in silence. "Yes, that sounds like Sesshoumaru."

Kagome, though she still hadn't wanted to call attention to herself, couldn't help but ask, "How could he possibly by intimidated by me?"

The mistress of the household had met her gaze with piercingly golden eyes and answered, "He _could_ be intimidated by your potential, in that he's worried he might be overshadowed by you in battle when the time comes..." She had paused then, staring at Kagome speculatively for some time before concluding finally, "But, in another way, I think he's afraid that you might become like a daughter to my husband and I. He might feel like he would be displaced in our hearts."

Kagome had gaped. "How could he have such extremely mixed feelings of me after _one _meeting?" She'd gestured impatiently. "A meeting, I might add, which lasted no longer than a few minutes!"

Miharu-sama's mouth had twisted into a sensuous but proud smirk. "My son may appear to be made of stone," she'd informed the young miko loftily, "but he possesses an intuition and intelligence far beyond his face. It is my belief that his depth of emotion extends so deeply that he simply _cannot_ express it on his face, without appearing half-crazed anyway."

* * *

That had all been five days ago. Kagome was now quite happily settled into her new home, only occasionally plagued by lingering feelings of guilt from her hasty forgetfulness. She had taken it upon herself to get to know her personal guards and staff almost as soon as she had set up her room. Her favorite was Kima, a plucky young maid inuyōkai, recently mated and eager to please her new half-kami mistress. She was very happy-go-lucky, a personality that Kagome herself tended to share, and they got along famously.

In addition to ingratiating herself with the staff, Kagome had attempted to better get to know the dog general himself, and found that she liked him immensely. When not worried about his theories of impending doom or frustrated over his wife or son, she found Kōji-sama to be wildly amusing, but also steadfast and loyal, a true father figure that she'd never known before. Within days of her arrival, she found herself seeking him out for advice and opinions on many things, most of which were completely unrelated to the mission of her presence on his estate. If he noticed this change in her demeanor towards him, he either didn't care, or was pleased enough to not comment and risk it reverting back to cold respect.

Kagome was unsurprised to find that she did not immediately warm to Miharu-sama, nor the steel demonness to her, but what did shock her was the fact that their son, Sesshōmaru, seemed to be warming to her.

On that first afternoon, after she had been escorted to her private section of the castle and left free to explore, she had gone outside the enjoy the sunshine. It had been so long since she could simply stop and feel its warmth resting on her skin, and revel in the smell of the wildflowers and ocean nearby.

She had been laying about in the grass in the field behind her home for about an hour, when she had felt a looming presence close to her left. She ignored it for some time, allowing the chaotic yōki she sensed to settle, but it did not leave her. Finally, unable to relax with its continued presence, she called out, "Whoever you are, I know you're there. I have a sneaking suspicion that whatever you want from me would be easier gotten when asked of me outright."

"And what could you possibly have that I would want?" came the reply as none other than the young yōkai prince stepped out of the shadows to stand before her. Admiring him in the bright sunlight, she could admit privately to herself that the young lord cut a striking figure. He was tall and lanky for his apparent age, something she was beginning to associate with all of the more advanced yōkai, with gleaming, silver hair that fell to his shoulders, and bright, inquisitive golden eyes that analyzed everything carefully and missed nothing.

"Oh, I don't know," Kagome responded off-handedly, smiling as she returned her gray gaze to the sky. "Perhaps you have a secret affinity for feminine clothing. In that regard, I'm afraid I can only offer you the garb of a miko. I have never owned anything else."

"Hn," he offered noncommittally.

Worried that she'd somehow offended him, Kagome met his gaze once more and asked politely, "Really. Was there something you wanted?"

Sesshōmaru rolled his molten eyes haughtily. "My father has deemed it necessary for me to apologize to you," he informed her. "Ergo, I have come to offer my sincerest regret for my complete ignorance during our last conversation. I humbly beg your pardon."

Kagome wasn't able to stop herself from laughing aloud, deeply and long. Even though he had adopted a sarcastic tone for humor, the young lord was still taken aback by the intensity of the woman-child's laughter before him.

"Have I said something wrong?" he finally prompted with overdone politeness, unable to stand being laughed at any longer.

Kagome shook her head in reply, wiping away a tear of mirth as she'd replied, "Oh, no. Just the idea of you doing anything _humbly—_I'm sorry. There could many words to describe your actions—rude, hasty, confident, even elegant—but _humble _is not one of them." She blinked then, amending, "Though there really isn't much else to expect from a lord's son."

"You say that as though it is a bad thing."

Kagome shrugged carelessly, agreeing, "In most cases, it is."

"How so?"

"I just find it... _disgusting_ that everyone—mortals and yōkai alike—can't feel comfortable in themselves unless they're a part of a caste system, and at a high rank, at that. It's as though every sentient creature decided, 'It's all right for me to not be the best, so long as I'm not the worst,' and since then, has felt the need to put others down beneath themselves. It's repugnant to me. Humans may not be able to physically compare with yōkai, but that certainly does not mean they are _worth_ any less."

There was a long hesitation, and then came the reply, "Am I to believe you find me nothing more than a common _bully_?"

Kagome immediately focused on him once more, this time uncertainly. His tone had sounded affronted, and that had her worried. What if he made her leave and go back to the temple? She was just starting to like it here! But there, deep in his molten eyes, was something she'd never expected to see in the dog general's stoic son—_humor_. Whether she could believe it or not, it appeared the esteemed Lord Sesshoumaru was _teasing_ her.

Recognizing this rare occasion for what it was, Kagome decided to play it cool and pretend that she hadn't noticed, to continue teasing him in return. Perhaps if she didn't make such a big production out of his letting his stone mask abate a little, he could allow it to slip completely off in the future.

"Oh, did it sound like I meant that?" she asked innocently, sitting up in a mock-abashed manner, her hand flying to her mouth. "I'm so sorry, my lord. I meant to imply that I find you totally and completely _arrogant_. Better than a common bully, by far."

The humor had been completely wiped from his expression, leaving only a thoroughly shocked countenance. It was clear no one had ever spoken to the young lord this way before in his life, and, by his expression, she had deciphered that he was pondering over berating her for her forwardness, or upping the ante and firing back.

But before she was able to tell which he had chosen to react with, he turned on his heel and simply walked away. There was nothing in his gait to suggest anger or indignation, but then, he was never truly relaxed either.

_Well, that worked perfectly,_ Kagome thought to herself sarcastically. Shaking her head to try and clear away her utter confusion, Kagome pushed herself to her feet and walked around to the back of the castle to treat herself to some target practice.

* * *

And oddly enough, every day since then the dashing Lord Sesshōmaru graced Kagome with his presence at least once. They were odd, the conversations that passed between the two. Kagome was often left feeling more bewildered by the heir than she had the morning before. Sometimes he would joke with her, teasing her as though he were an old friend, but then his mask would fall back in place and he would stalk off without saying a word. She never knew how far was too far with him, for there seemed to rhyme or reason, no pattern at all to the moments he would shut down. Like she had with his mother, Kagome had simply given up trying to understand the young yōkai prince, but she couldn't deny that she found their daily meetings highly entertaining.

Especially when Sesshōmaru was having what she quickly came to dub his "good days," the days when he would turn up as playful as a boy, teasing her and making her laugh. Those moments quickly became her favorites of her entire life at the castle, but they were decidedly uncommon. More often, the young lord would merely pop into existence beside her, using his superior speed to startle her intentionally, before launching into _his_ favorite activity of asking her nonstop questions.

Like his personality, the questions had no pattern to them. Some were about her life at the shrine, some more personal, and yet more were simply indecipherable. He wanted to know her favorite scents, her favorite sounds—things she had never really given conscious thought to. He wanted to know her thoughts on the state of things between mortals, demons, and yōkai, things he saw as extremely distinct entities. To him, mortals were like insects. They served a purpose on this earth to be sure, but they were weak, inane creatures that came as quickly as they went. Demons, to his mind, were only slightly better. They were the mindless creatures, besotted with their own power, that destroyed more than it gave. Finally, he believed yōkai were beings like himself, second on earth only to the kami.

He rarely allowed her to return his questions, but when he did, the answers provided amazing insight into the way his mind worked. He was, in the only terms she could think to describe him, a very solitary boy who thought himself a man. He thought himself above many others, not desiring company or the opinions of others, holding himself loftily apart from lesser people. Kagome privately thought he was very lonely, though he himself probably hadn't realized it. That was the reason he sought her out so often, she believed. He, though unaware of it himself, was desperate for _someone_ to talk to.

They passed weeks and eventually months in this vein, slowly but surely coming to know the other, though Kagome would continually find herself flummoxed as the young lord did something unexpected, out of the character she was coming to know.

For example, once, when she'd bathing in the river behind her own small compound, she'd been so absorbed in her own almost ritualistic cleansing that she hadn't noticed the human man a few scores away, watching her intently. She'd only found out about this occurrence at all when she returned to her home and found Sesshōmaru there, waiting for her. He calmly informed her of what had happened and in the same casual tone, told her that he had killed the man for her honor's sake.

Somehow, she knew by his tone and expression that this act in his culture was looked upon with pleasure and pride. His eager eyes told her she was supposed to express a certain gratitude at his announcement, and acknowledge his prowess. She could do none of these things, only blushing and changing the subject when it arose thereafter.

It didn't bother her overmuch that her honor had been tarnished somewhat—though that was certainly a problem—it was more the fact that Sesshoumaru had _killed_ the man. Did he really deserve that? Certainly, she wanted some sort of justice for what had been done to her, but to end someone's life over peeping at her? It seemed a little extreme.

Sesshoumaru, at first, had tried to comfort her in the only way he knew how as of yet—to ridicule her in the gentle manner humans called "teasing." It didn't work. She'd only grown morose and even sullen at the mention of her "fall from purity." Then, finding that his methods weren't aiding him in their usual way, he resorted to truly ridiculing her. It was her miko training, he declared. She had been taught to value each life as though it were one of someone precious to her and—never minding the hypocrisy of that statement in regards to demons and yōkai—the death of that man weighed on her conscious as heavily as if she had been the one to strike him down.

It was ludicrous, he'd told her. Repeatedly. Did it work? Of course not. Sesshōmaru had never met a more stubborn, irritating, bewitching person and he told her so (sans the bewitching part, of course, he couldn't have her getting a bigger head than she already had). At this, the miko had just got annoyed. How dare he insult her! At least she had enough morality and decency in her to mourn the loss of a life! What kind of monster killed repeatedly without any sign of remorse or guilt?

Answering in the most formal third-person speech he could think of, he'd answered, "This Sesshoumaru." He'd gone on to add, "You do realize, of course, that when you enlisted your services in my father's upcoming campaign you promised to be the cause of the death of many, perhaps countless, others?"

She'd grumbled about that one for days, but could make no answer.

Even after all this, she could make neither heads nor tails of the man. Did he like her or didn't he? Was he simply attempting to befriend her for the sake of peace in his house, or out of an unconscious loneliness, or even for his own enjoyment? His parents didn't have the answers she searched for, either. When she spoke of the Lord Sesshōmaru with his father, the Inu no Taishō could only shrug and shake his head. He had never completely understood his son, he said, for his son had always been reserved. Miharu-sama, who knew her son only slightly better, could only guess at his behavior. She still held firm to the belief that her son was either intrigued by Kagome, or he was trying to root out his competition for parental favors.

Finally, Kagome simply decided to confront him about it. She was getting tired of this cat-and-mouse game they played day after day, baiting each other only to walk away when the questions got too intense.

Therefore, the next afternoon found her swinging her feet over her porch, once more enjoying the sun's warmth, when a shadow raced across the sky. Only seconds later, Sesshoumaru materialized by her side—sitting, which just showed how immense his change in attitude was towards her since that first fateful meeting. She glanced over at him briefly.

"Hello," Kagome greeted dully, and instantly the heir was on alert.

"What is it?" he asked curiously, but not overly concerned. As though whatever was bothering her had the potential to be interesting, but not enough to bother to ask after it more than once.

Kagome sighed, staring for a few more moments at the ground before meeting his eyes. She had to stress upon sincerity, and he seemed more comfortable with her when he had a clear view of her eyes.

"Why do you visit me like this every day?" Kagome asked bluntly.

For a brief moment, she thought he wasn't going to answer her. His left eyebrow went up skeptically, but he said nothing for a long time. Eventually, he blinked and said slowly, as though tasting each word that came out, "Finally, you confront your problem. I was wondering when that would happen."

"Excuse me?"

The young lord abandoned her gaze, staring out over the fields. He shrugged. "I've noticed in the last few weeks that you tend to ignore anything that really bothers you. The war, for instance. You won't acknowledge that you will be responsible for the death of many creatures, yet you criticize me for weeks for defending you from a crass voyeur. You _run _from your problems. So I decided to see how long it would take for you to ask me face-to-face what so obviously piqued your curiosity."

Kagome's face flushed in her anger. "So this was a test?" she demanded.

Sesshoumaru met her eyes with a calm indifference to her blatant indignation. "Be not a fool. I've no such time to waste. I come to see you because I wish to. That is all you need know for the time being. It only became a test of your character in the last few days."

Kagome sucked in a breath that sounded more like a growl. "Ooh, you smug _bastard_! How dare you sit there and harp about my personality, as though you're the epitome of perfection!"

He cut her off before she could go any further, his tone as emotionless as ever. "Kagome-san, if there is anyone on this Earth that could make me believe I wasn't worth a _damn_, it's you. Trust me."

As though he had slapped her across the face, Kagome's anger deflated into stunned silence. When she regained control of herself, she turned to face him and whispered, "What do you mean?"

But his cold mask had fallen back into place, and he had risen to his feet. He cleared his throat and, not even acknowledging her question, said in a mechanically polite voice, "I meant only to illustrate to your one of your few faults. I know from personal experience that to have one merely sit and criticize you makes you very unlikely to take that person's advice to heart. I thought that if your mistake was pointed out to you as you did it, you would be more receptive to the advice. Forgive me if I insulted you."

Somehow, Kagome only believed a part of his confession—and it was the obvious part, the one of him not taking criticism well. She knew that he was being sincere when he told her that he had merely wished to help her to grow and learn mentally, that he was trying to show her how to behave more like someone of her station, but she was still insulted that he felt the need to do so in the first place.

...Even if running away from problems was a grotesque character flaw.

When she had finally sorted through her feelings enough to know that she wasn't angry with him, she also realized that he really had let her into his life and perhaps his heart more than she had noticed—for why would he take the time to help her overcome her flaws if he didn't care?

But by the time she had come to this conclusion, he was gone.


	4. Chapter Three

_Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi_

* * *

**Chapter Three**

Kagome spent the next six months in the same pattern, adjusting to her new life at the dog general's castle. In that time, she proved to be an extremely fast learner, honing and refining her miko skills to such a degree that one would think she had been fighting all her life—which, in a way, she had. She'd watched the other miko in her temple slay demon after demon. She'd always known the art by sight, even if she had not practiced it herself. Of course, she knew she also had to attribute her quick absorption to the assets she had to practice on. The Inu no Taishō had purchased for her a plethora of training tools used by other miko. Obviously, he couldn't buy her _everything_, as certain charm books were forbidden to leave temples and shrines, but things like different types of bows and arrows, targets, and an intermediate-level spell book were hers for the taking.

On one fine fall morning, Kagome was out in the yard, taking advantage of one of her conveniently inhuman servants (she was practicing leading a target), when Sesshōmaru appeared. By this time, she was quite accustomed to him popping up at random moments and staying for varying amounts of time before leaving. But still, to have him literally just pop into existence right beside her while she was _aiming _an _arrow_...!

"Gah!" was her most unladylike cry of shock as she released her arrow involuntarily. Luckily, she hadn't had the focus to put any power into it, because it snagged the sleeve of the servant caught unawares. If she'd had the time to put even a small dose of her power into that arrow, Kima would have been incinerated.

"A pleasure to see you, too, Kagome-san, as always," Sesshōmaru responded to this, cocking a rather scornful brow.

"You know better than to sneak up on me like that!" she hissed with anger, smacking his shoulder. The eyebrow dropped, his expression closed off, and Kagome instantly backtracked, suddenly remembering she was standing beside a very powerful yōkai, temperaments notwithstanding. "I'm not insinuating you are my pet or something," she muttered defensively, leaning over to pick up an arrow from the stock she had laid out at her feet, "but there are certain things you should know about me by now and one of those is that I _hate _to be surprised!"

"But just the other day, when Father gave you a new kimono, you were _so pleased_," Sesshōmaru retorted, his voice verging on a cutting tone with its mocking of her girlish lilt. "Was that not a surprise?"

"That's different! That was a welcome surprise, it was a _gift _for me. I'm talking about sneaking up on people and scaring the wits out of them!"

The amused, slightly contemptuous glint was back in his eyes as he replied, "I should think my presence would be a gift beyond measuring."

"Oh, shut up," she sighed, unable to fight back a smile. When he wanted to, the yōkai beside her could have charmed bees into giving up making honey. She shook her head, attempting to bring some measure of sternness back into her tone. It really was important to her that he grasped this trait about her. "But, really, Sesshoumaru, I could have seriously hurt Kima just then. We've known each other for a while now, so I know you take some sadistic pleasure in frightening me, but, in this instance if nothing else, please refrain."

"A while?" Kagome rolled her eyes. Of course he would completely bypass her point and pick apart her syntax.

"Yes, a _while_," she reiterated crossly. "We've known each other more than six months. I'm surprised we haven't killed each other by now."

"Do six months really seem a great deal of time to you?" he asked curiously.

Confused by his genuine interest, she responded honestly, "Not a _great _deal, but it certainly seems considerable when looking at how short life is."

"_Human _life, you mean," he scoffed. "Yōkai like myself live for centuries. Without famine and murder, we would live forever. Six months is but a second to those such as myself."

Kagome couldn't stop herself from sneering, "Oh, I'm so _sorry_, Lord Sesshōmaru. I forgot you are utter perfection, the likes of which I can't even begin to relate to myself."

"I forgive you."

Taken completely aback by his teasing reply, delivered in such a no-nonsense, emotionless tone of voice, Kagome couldn't help but burst into gales of laughter that would make other ladies blush in embarrassment. But she didn't blush or try to hide her amusement, and Sesshoumaru noticed. He was growing to appreciate more and more her frank enjoyment of life, and he could acknowledge, if only to himself, that he could be more like that. Knowing none of her companion's internal thoughts, Kagome merely picked up her arrows and continued her practice with Kima, ignoring the watchful presence at her side.

Several weeks later, however, Kagome finally had to admit defeat. She had exhausted all possible hope of expanding her miko skills with the materials she had, and she was beginning to merely practice the ones she'd already mastered every day. In short, she was growing bored.

Kōji-sama was the first to comment on her new apathy and, seeking to please the girl, he asked what more he could buy for her to practice with. Kagome was forced to tell the dog general that there was nothing left he could do. She was at the point of her skills where she could no longer benefit by being independent, because no shrine would give her the more advanced materials she needed. Shorting of joining a temple herself for the sake of schooling, she really couldn't improve any further on her own.

But she wasn't eager to join a temple, and she told the dog lord she was quickly coming to view as a father so. She didn't tell him the reasons behind this, of course: that she would miss him terribly but, more shocking, that she would miss _Sesshōmaru_ terribly. She had grown incredibly fond of their daily chats, and she honestly didn't know how she'd cope with not seeing him for a time, even if it was only for a few weeks.

Kōji-sama, too, was reluctant to send her to a shrine. It would be like starting back at square one. She would be outside the realm of his protection once more, vulnerable to any of his potential threats from the dragon armies, and she couldn't be followed by her guards.

Instead, he asked her if she thought there was something, anything, else he could do to help her increase her power short of sending her to a temple. Her answer had pleased him even less.

"Well, I suppose I could visit my father and ask him to train me as a kami," she responded reflectively. Seeing the protest beginning to form on the father-like Inu no Taishō's face, she hastened to add, "Or I could just travel there and speak with him. He might give me a tutor to bring back here with me. Then I could still be _safe_, but not so _bored_."

Kōji-sama bit the inside of his cheek for a moment, pondering on his two possibilities: send her away for several months to a temple where he'd have limited access to assure himself of her safety, or send her away for a week or two at most while she fetched herself a tutor. A tutor that could also begin to hone her immortal abilities, forging out of her potential a raw power source for his own army. It didn't take a genius to figure out which option he was going to choose.

"You may go to your father on one condition," he allowed. Kagome, seeing that this would be her only chance, and that Kōji-sama was being more than fair to her at the moment, nodded acceptingly. "You will be accompanied by at least three guards."

"_What_?" Kagome nearly shrieked. "But Kōji-sama, I can take care of myself—haven't I proven that already?"

He nearly rolled his eyes. "Of course you have, my dear, but that does not make me blind to the risks. You will not go unattended. You may choose your guards, but I'm afraid that is the only compromise I can afford you."

Kagome glared at the ground, thinking. She was fond of all her guards, they were good men and strong, honorably yōkai, but she didn't want any of them to go with her. The travel and conversations would be intensely awkward, and she'd be taking a fair few of them from their mates, who were maids here.

"I have a different idea," she offered slowly, wary that she might be rejected. "What if I take one guard, the best of all the others, who has the _strength _of three?"

The Inu no Taishō met her gaze levelly and said, "Kagome, I trust all my men implicitly, and I know they are each masterful in their skills. But none have the abilities of which you speak."

"That would be because I'm not talking about one of your men," Kagome informed him, smiling, "I'm referring to your son."

"Sesshōmaru?" Inu no Taisho repeated, stunned. "But—I had no idea the two of you were so close."

Kagome burst out laughing at the very idea. "Oh, we're not," she assured him. "We are not _close_; I don't understand him. But he is stronger than the rest by scores, and easy company, and should he decide to accompany me, I won't be embarrassed by a parade of guards."

This, too, was turned over in Kōji-sama's mind for several minutes, before he came to the conclusion that he rather liked her idea more. Not merely for the fact that she was agreeing to have at least one defender, but because it was his son doing it. He knew that his son and the miko were getting closer, despite what she claimed. He knew they shared conversations that lasted several hours at least once a day, and they both seemed highly intrigued by one another. Should they leave on this trip together, not only would Kagome—whom the dog general fondly thought of as the daughter he'd never had—be protected, but perhaps... she and Sesshōmaru could explore this budding relationship between them?

It was almost too much to hope for, he knew that, but, in that moment, he had never wanted anything more in his entire life. It would be so perfect for the two to unite. Kagome was, without a doubt, the most powerful female on the face of the Earth (or she would be once she realized her full potential), and, not to toot his own horn, his son was quite possibly the most powerful upstart male. The _children _they could have together...

But he was getting far too ahead of himself.

Clearing his throat, he nodded and agreed, "Go with my son. You will have no longer than three weeks, before I send a party after you."

Kagome beamed at him before throwing her arms around his neck—not quite an easy task, that, as she stood nearly two full feet below him in height. "Thank you, Inu-papa!"

Taken aback by the familiar term of endearment, the dog general held her loosely, patting her back almost awkwardly, though he was quite pleased by the show of affection. He knew far better than to expect such an outburst from his own child, Sesshōmaru. Just the thought was enough to make him laugh.

Kagome released him and turned to exit the room, shouting before she was even out the door, "Sesshōmaru!"

And so it was decided. The yōkai prince, only a tiny bit reluctant, agreed to accompany Kagome on a journey that would no doubt be at the very _least_ three weeks long. They were, after all, situated in the Western Lands. Their journey would take them all the way across the country to the Eastern Lands, and then far off into the sea.

The Inu no Taishō gave them the best directions he had available to him, since he was the only one there at present with living memory of the ways in which to reach Ryūjin's castle. Though, to be honest, his "directions" were sketchy at best, relying on scents and sounds more than sight, and leaving Kagome in complete skepticism of their accuracy. Sesshōmaru raised another point.

"And how will Kagome-san prove to Ryūjin-sama that she is his daughter?" he queried. "He believes she is dead, does he not?"

"Just the knowledge of her life should be enough," the dog general said pensively. "No one else knew about her and her mother. However, if he decides he wants tangible proof, take something of mine to vouch for me."

"Write a letter, chichi-ue, and put your seal on it," his son suggested. "There can be no disputing that."

"Excellent idea, my son!" the dog lord cried with gusto, grinning at his nearly-cloned son. "I knew I kept you for a reason."

When Sesshōmaru scowled at his father's sarcasm, Kagome couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

"Are you certain you have everything you require? Bedding, food, money?" the Inu no Taishō worried, causing the pair to pause on their way out. "Weapons?"

"I'm fairly certain Sesshōmaru's the only weapon we'll need," Kagome teased, "but, yes. I have my bow and arrows, and Sesshōmaru—he's got whatever he usually has, I suppose." She turned to the dog general's son confusedly. "What _did _you bring?"

She eyed her own sack of clothes, medicinal supplies, money, food, and bedding curiously, for there was no companion sack near it.

"I require nothing but the clothes on my back," he responded.

"Cocky, aren't ya?" Kagome joked, but added, "Seriously, what if we get into a fight with some demons? You can't walk around with _essence of demon guts_ all on your clothes. At least, _I_ won't be walking with you then."

"I would have thought you'd know me better by now, Kagome-san," the young lord answered, lifting a sarcastic brow as he practically quoted her from a week before. "I am not a barbarian. When I kill, I do not do so savagely—therefore, I am seldom dirtied."

Kagome bit her lip, nodding. "You're right," she conceded contritely. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you."

"I am not so easily offended. I wished only to make a point."

"Yes, and you did so quite thoroughly," Kōji-sama put in, chuckling at the pair of them. Despite his secret, fervent wishes, he truly wondered how the two would survive together even for this journey. Their relationship confused him—it reminded him too much of his own with his wife. True, Sesshōmaru and Kagome seemed far more _playful_ than he and his wife, and their relationship seemed to carry a near-constant undertone of sexual instinct, but all that did was confuse him more. "Please be safe; come home in one piece."

"And with a tutor," Kagome added, smiling.

"And with a tutor," the dog general echoed, nodding.

* * *

Kagome and Sesshōmaru walked for quite some time—until the castle had been out of Kagome's sight for at least an hour. They entered a thick forest, so dense it was nearly dark on the ground, despite the time of day. Normally, Kagome loved forests. She loved their natural beauty and towering grace. But after walking through one for the last few hours, she was quite sick of woods. The branches scratched at her face and arms, and the roots constantly threatened to trip her. These irritants were made all the more annoying by her companion, who seemed to have no trouble navigating through them unscathed.

After three or four hours of this, Kagome could stand the silence no longer.

"So, uh, thanks for agreeing to come with me on this trip," she offered tentatively. "It would have been really embarrassing for me to have to travel with a whole entourage."

"Think nothing of it," the young lord responded neutrally. He said nothing else.

Kagome flicked her fingers at her sides for a few moments, thinking of something—_anything_—to say to break what she perceived to be an awkward silence. Nothing came to mind immediately, so she turned to nibbling on her lower lip. She still drew only a blank.

"I don't understand something," Sesshōmaru offered suddenly.

Seizing the opportunity for a conversation, Kagome returned eagerly, "Yes?"

"Why do you have such a strong aversion to silence?" he wondered. Kagome's back was instantly up.

"What do you mean?" she asked defensively.

"I've noticed it for as long as I've known you," he informed her. "You cannot stand silence. Every time a lull in conversation appears, you feel the need to fill it with needless words and banal observations."

"I do not!"

The young dog lord said nothing, maintaining his brisk pace without so much as looking at her. Kagome waited a few moments to see if he was merely thinking of something else to say to her, before she demanded indignantly, "_Hello_?"

"And there you have it," Sesshōmaru said triumphantly, finally looking her in the eye with something very close to amusement in his own.

"I wasn't bothered by the _silence_," she retorted, growing angry. "I was getting mad at _you_. I thought you were ignoring me."

"Do you think that every time someone is in your presence and does not speak?"

"Of course not."

He fell silent again, retreating into his own mind. Given the freedom to think on her actions, Kagome realized that she really _didn't _like silence.

_But_, she added hastily,_ I have a perfectly good reason to hate it. I've spent my whole life this far whispering and staying quiet so as not to hurt humans. How can I help it if I enjoy talking now that I don't have to fear for people?_

But she didn't say this out loud. She wanted to prove a point: that she could and would entertain silence until _he _decided to break it.

Several more hours passed in this vein. Still hidden from the sun under their thick foliage, Kagome could not tell what time of day it was, but she thought the sun must have set already. She let out a long-suffering sigh of boredom. Sesshōmaru could apparently maintain silence as though he were _dead_. Her legs were starting to grow sore from the constant trek, and, desperate to relieve the ache, she lifted her arms straight up over head and stretched all her muscles as best she could while walking, sucking in a deep yawn in the process.

"Are you tired?" came the immediate query from her traveling companion.

Kagome blushed at being caught doing such an unladylike thing, especially in public. _Even if we are on a dirt track in the middle of the forest—it's still rude_, she chastised herself.

"Um, no," she answered shyly. "Just a little hungry. Could we stop—just for a few moments?" The dog lord sighed irritably, and Kagome was instantly contrite. "Never mind. Forget I even asked. I'm sorry. You're already doing so much for me—sacrificing all this time just to get me a tutor—"

She would have kept rambling on if Sesshōmaru's large, but surprisingly smooth, hand hadn't come down over her mouth. When he was confident she would maintain silence again, he lifted his palm from her face and asked, "How long have you been hungry?"

Kagome's cheeks tinted pink at intensity of his stare, but she couldn't force herself to look away. "Um... I don't know... Perhaps since a little after midday?"

Sesshoumaru sighed again, and demanded, "You must tell me whenever you need something. I am unaccustomed to traveling with someone with more frequent necessities; I won't remember all the time. I realize that I scolded you for your talkativeness, but really, that is something you must always share. I am not cruel, I don't wish for you to go hungry. Am I making myself clear?"

Kagome nodded, unable to say anything, caught as she was by the molten swirls in his golden eyes.

"Promise me," he commanded.

Not even in control of herself enough to be offended by his imperiousness, Kagome whispered, "I promise."

"Good." Instantly, she was free of his intense gaze. The next time she glanced at his face, she was surprised to see a hint of indulgent amusement in them. "Now," he said, effectively dropping the subject, "let's find a place to set up camp for the night and see what new concoctions you can create for us to, uh, _enjoy_."

Kagome laughed, punching his shoulder. "Watch your tongue or you won't be given anything at all."

Still smiling to herself, she followed more complacently as Sesshōmaru veered them slightly off their course. The path he led them down, if there was a path at all, was far more treacherous to her hair and ankles, but she somehow managed to keep pace with her travel partner without injuring herself. Their path suddenly stopped altogether, dumping them into a small clearing, free of trees or bushes of any kind. It was only a few feet wide, just large enough for two people to comfortably sleep on opposites side of a campfire, but it was perfect to Kagome, who had missed the sight of the sky for the last day.

Sesshōmaru stepped easily to the opposite side of the clearing and gracefully sank to the ground, leaning against the trunk of a particularly large tree. He watched, golden eyes bright in the dark, as Kagome laid down her pack with a weary sigh of relief and began taking out the necessities for a meal.

"How did you know this was here?" she asked curiously as she moved.

Though it was clearly a statement, the tone made Sesshōmaru's answer a question. A question of her sanity, that is.

"I could see it," he replied.

Shooting him one sardonic glance, Kagome yanked out some kindling from her pack and repeated childishly in a mutter, "I could _see_ it..."

"Be silent, miko, and make your meal."

After having spent every day of the last seven months growing acquainted with the young lord and his many moods, Kagome could easily detect the tiny teasing note in his voice now. Playing along, she snapped, "You could, you know, build us a fire or something. Be _useful_ for once."

"Hn."

Again, Kagome couldn't stop herself from childishly imitating, "Hn," under her breath.

"You're mocking me, aren't you?"

She paused in her movements to meet his gaze fully and demanded with feigned shock and innocence, "How could you tell?"

"You are quite snippy when you're hungry. I'll have to remember this for next time."

At this, Kagome was unable to maintain her brief discontent any longer. Never in her life had something struck her as so amusing. Sesshōmaru's bland, dignified tone of voice saying such a silly word as though it were completely natural. Snickering at him, she repeated, "_Snippy_?"

"Would you prefer I say 'caustic'? 'Scathing'?"

"How about just plain angry?" Kagome supplied. She set about placing the first of her ingredients into a dry pot, still chuckling to herself, "_Snippy_..."

"Miko, I told you to be silent and make the food."

Despite his words, Kagome didn't sense any growing irritation in his tone, any signs of warning that his temper was reaching its limit, as it usually did after a while of her teasing. In fact, judging from his closed eyes, relaxed expression, and bland tone of voice, if anything, she could only think he was completely at peace in that moment.

So she decided to ruin it a little. "And I'm telling you to stuff it," she informed him, giggling as he opened his eyes and glared at her. "If you won't build us a fire, go and get me some water with your _superior senses_."

She shoved a small pail into his hands before he could protest and with one last long-suffering look that made her laugh again, he rose gracefully to his feet and walked off to do as she asked.


	5. Chapter Four

_Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi_

* * *

**Chapter Four**

If Kagome had questioned the reasoning behind Kōji-sama's fears of impending war, she was now convinced. As she and Sesshōmaru traveled further and further east, leaving the forests and wild mountain ranges for tamer, meadow villages and beachside towns, they were almost swimming in the hordes of yōkai that came to attack them. But it was so strange, they reflected to each other in rare moments of peace. The demons seemed to realize that they were no match for even Kagome, let alone the great Inu no Taishō's son, and they were cut down in swarms. Yet still they came in droves. What was behind this bizarre behavior?

Despite the lack of challenge in each individual opponent, fighting your way inch by inch to the sea was much harder than it would have seemed, according to Kagome. The constant battling had set back their travel time at least two days, perhaps even three by Sesshōmaru's estimation, and it had her worried. They had their time limit to obey, of course, before Kōji-sama assumed the worst and sent a party after them.

By the time the pair did reach the ocean, even Sesshōmaru was feeling the heat. He bought a boat off some humans at the dock and all but threw Kagome and their belongings into it before fiercely rowing them away from the shore. The demons, while weak, had cost them far too much time. Of course, Sesshōmaru had gloated to Kagome in his own monotonous bragging way, they had not lived to regret it.

By the next sunset, Kagome was quite done with the sea leg of their voyage and wished it over with. The feeling somewhat startled her. She had always loved the sea—and now she knew why, of course. She'd always enjoyed watching the dolphins leap out of the water, closer and closer to her as though beckoning her to join them. She'd loved watching the sun change the colors of the water depending on its height in the sky: gold, pink, purple, blue, green...

But as she sat in their little boat hour after hour, sighing through the intense boredom, she didn't have anything to block the sun. Her face and neck grew hotter and hotter. The next morning, Sesshōmaru gleefully informed her that she was rapidly becoming redder than her hakama.

"Oh, shut up," she said without anger, waving an airy hand in his general direction. She looked around for some coverage, knowing full well that there was none. Finally giving up, she sank to the floor of the boat and leaned her back against the seat, closing her eyes for yet another nap. It was all there was to do on this stupid little boat, especially since Sesshōmaru didn't seem to be in a particularly chatty mood.

As she shifted around to try and get comfortable, there were a few moments of stillness, in which only the gentle rippling of the water against the boat sides could be heard. Then, as though dropped from heaven itself, something heavy fell onto Kagome's head and upper body, cloaking her in cool darkness.

Startled out of her peaceful doze, her gray eyes popped open and she hastily yanked the foreign object off herself, pulling it into her lap so that she could examine it. It was a haori—_Sesshoumaru's _haori, to be precise. She stared at him blankly, almost unable to conceive that he would do such a thing. And for her, of all people.

"My mother packed an ointment for burns in your sack," he informed her, ignoring the question in her eyes.

Kagome took that as an instruction to apply the salve to her face and neck before she completely fried. She did so, and remained hidden from the sun under Sesshoumaru's haori for the remaining duration of the trip. Still, she couldn't help but peek out from the folds at the water before them every now and then.

She wondered how Sesshōmaru knew where they were going. His father had given him directions, she knew, but from what she could see there were no landmarks around to speak of their location. However, she knew better than to voice these concerns aloud to Sesshōmaru. He likely knew exactly where they were and how much longer they would be on the water.

Sighing slightly, Kagome decided it was time for the midday meal, if for no other reason than that she was bored. The heat of the beating sun had left her with little appetite for the days they sailed, but she desperately wanted something to do, even if it was preparing a little meal neither of them would really enjoy. She lifted the haori off her head and turned once more to the inu-yōkai "Are you hungry?" she queried. "Thirsty?"

"No."

Shrugging, she smirked and teased, "More for me!"

* * *

Several more days passed on the water. Kagome was so bored she couldn't even let her mind wander into fancies. She'd already been through just about everything there was for her to think about. She'd practically drilled a hole on the ledge of the boat from her incessant tapping, but she hadn't said a word or even sighed. Sesshōmaru didn't seem bothered by the time or lack of activities, so she wouldn't complain. She was trying to prove her maturity and comfort with silence, after all.

Still, she couldn't hide her immense relief when Sesshōmaru finally pointed out land. They'd traveled over the water for four days, and had walked over the countryside for four more days before that. Already, more than one of their three weeks had been used up.

As Sesshōmaru dragged the boat onto the sandy shore, Kagome all but leapt out of it, eager to set foot once more on steady, albeit sticky and grainy, ground. Sand, after all, was the only part of the ocean she didn't like, but even so, she was glad to be standing it at that moment.

Taking her pack off her burned shoulders and slinging it easily onto one of his own, Sesshōmaru calmly came to stand beside her, his bright eyes scanning the forest before them expectantly.

"Well?" Kagome demanded of him eagerly. "Which way do we go?"

"We don't," he informed her, not taking his eyes off of the terrain. "This island only reveals itself to those Ryūjin welcomes. He knows we are here and, according to chichi-ue, that means he'll send someone out to greet us soon."

Almost before he had stopped talking, Kagome spotted a figure emerging from the trees. It was a lone man, quite similar in appearance to an inu-yōkai. Tall, statuesque, though a bit more rounded than any of the dog demons Kagome had become acquainted with. His hair was a dusky gray, almost silver color, his eyes amber, his skin a flawless, incandescent white. But as he drew closer to the pair, Kagome saw that his features were ever-changing. Both his hair and eye colors darkened and lightened and even changed hues altogether. Was it a trick of the light? Or was he really altering his appearance so frequently, so easily?

_...like the ocean!_ Kagome realized with a gasp. The water was always changing colors from sunrise to sunset. This must be Ryūjin himself. Without a word, the man in question let out a small, pleased laugh as he came to a stop before the pair, and embraced Kagome.

Almost instantly, the man stepped back, keeping his hands on her upper arms while he examined her.

"There's no doubt," he said, and Kagome wasn't sure if he was referring to himself or her. "You have my eyes. But I cannot understand, how did I not know about you? Who are you? Who is your mother?"

"Um, I don't mean to be rude, but I really don't feel like I should tell you anything about myself until you tell me who you are," Kagome returned, trying to keep her tone polite.

"Ah! How rude of me," the man agreed, shaking his head in apology. "I am Ryūjin, God of the Seas. And you are clearly a child of mine, though I know not how you escaped my notice."

"H-How do you know I'm yours?" Kagome asked tremulously, shocked that it was so easy to convince her father of her heritage. Did he really have so many children that he could just accept some stranger as his own?

"Your eyes," the kami said simply. "No creature in this realm or any other may have them. They change colors, do they not?" Kagome nodded. "And all colors can be compared to the ocean?" Kagome nodded again, dumbfounded. "Then you are mine. Tell me, my child, what is your name?"

"...K-Kagome."

After a brief pause, the kami chuckled, shaking his head. "An unfortunate name, but fitting. Come, Kagome and—" He broke off, staring at Sesshōmaru in amazement. "I'd know that face anywhere. You are the mirror image of my old friend, Kōji!"

Sesshōmaru bowed his head in recognition, but only slightly. He said nothing.

Kagome sent him a reproachful glance and strove to cover the situation. "Forgive him, Ry—um, F-Father. His name is Sesshōmaru. As you guessed, he is the son of the Inu no Taishō."

Ryūjin shook his head, his eyes widened in awe. "How Kōji ever managed to get a son off that frigid..."

His voice trailed off, but Kagome distinctly heard a bizarre sound from Sesshōmaru. It couldn't have been... She'd had to have misheard him. He couldn't have _snorted_, could he? It sounded as though he had barely restrained laughter that her father's statement. But that seemed almost physically impossible for the esteemed Lord Sesshōmaru. Laughter from him was like expecting a volcano to spit out butterflies. It just did not happen—it wasn't even feasible.

"Well!" The God of the Seas clapped his hands together and started rubbing them, as though he were about to start a fire with the friction. "Shall we be off? We have so much to discuss! Let's start with how you escaped my notice, dear. Who is your mother?"

As they walked along the beach and entered the forest beyond, Kagome blushed and mumbled, "I don't know."

Ryūjin stopped walking and, seeing no path or other instruments of guidance, Kagome and Sesshōmaru were forced to stop as well.

"You don't know?" he returned confusedly. "How is that possible?"

"My father has told me the story many times," Sesshōmaru put in suddenly, to Kagome's overwhelming gratitude. For some reason, faced with the sudden, direct attention from her father, she couldn't speak a word. "Of how he was on the beach one day, and stumbled upon two figures washed up on the sand. A woman, gray from death and exhaustion, and a young infant that refused to cry even when it must have been starving. He would focus almost exclusively on the infant, stressing the baby's unnerving sentience and calmness. He set off an explosion with his sword to summon nearby villagers and left, knowing that the baby, at least, would be taken care of and that he would be able to see her again. She is now standing before you, fifteen years later."

"I see."

The kami was silent for many minutes, and the two walked somewhat awkwardly after him while he thought.

"Well," he sighed, clapping his hands together again but in a slightly more remorseful manner, even as the gesture signified moving on. "I believe your mother was Kun-Loon. We met some twenty years ago, back on the Continent." He smiled sadly at Kagome, his ever-changing eyes raking in her features. "Yes, I see it now. Despite my coloring, you do resemble her greatly. The same facial structure, the same hair color..."

_Kun-Loon,_ Kagome thought. _That was my mother_. As strange as it was, a thought still ran across her mind, reassuring her: _She actually lived. He knew her. He thinks I look like her. Maybe he could tell me more about her..._

Sesshōmaru, sensing that Kagome was still not in a talking mood, attempted to redirect the conversation.

"My father told me that you were aware of Kagome's mother's death, that you thought Kagome had died with her," he stated, his tone barely hinting at his blazing confusion.

"I did not think it was Kun-Loon that had died," he admitted, his brows coming together in his own confusion. "No, I thought she was Aoi. At the time, I was away on the Continent. I was sent news that Aoi's young son had died and that she had killed herself rather than deal with the loss. When news came to me from another source that two bodies had been found washed up on the beach, I assumed it was them. Kun-Loon was supposed to have been waiting for me in Ryūgū-jō, expected to deliver any day. When I returned and found her gone, the servants told me the baby had been stillborn and that she had run away with grief. I wonder..."

Kagome, rather than process all this information now, merely stored it away in her mind for her to peruse at a later, more convenient time. She'd probably get a headache thinking about it all right now.

"Where are we going, my lord?" she asked politely, gesturing to the thick forest they were currently trekking through. "I always thought Ryūgū-jō was under the sea."

"It is," her father informed her, winking. "But humans and other such creatures that cannot breathe under water must stay in another residence."

"_Can_ I breathe under water?" Kagome asked curiously, already sidetracked. Of course! Her father would know all about her strange kami powers! "I mean, once I'm properly trained and everything."

"Of course," he responded easily. "Kami can do practically anything they want. Breathe under water, change their form... But each kami has only a select few powers to their self, which none of the other immortals can attain. For instance, I control the seas. Anything to do with water or the creatures therein are my domain. But the sun, for another, is the express domain of my sister, Amaterasu."

"And since I am merely the child of a kami, I will not have a specific 'domain' to myself?" Kagome prompted.

He shrugged. "You might, someday. Blood status or pedigree do not necessarily dictate your power with kami, it is literally _what _you do, what elements and objects you work best with. Should you continue to use your talents once honed, most times you will be known by them."

"Speaking of talents," interjected Sesshōmaru, "I must admit that is why we are here. Kagome will not be permitted to stay here, as she has promised my father to help him in his upcoming war. However, we have come here to ask if you might spare a tutor for her, to return with us and train her."

Kagome had never heard Sesshōmaru speak in so deferent a way. It wasn't in the words he said, per se, but it was written all over his tone. She stared at him in confusion and shock, but he pointedly ignored her, choosing to watch her father instead.

"I see," the kami said again, his eyes falling on Kagome. "I had hoped you would stay here for many more years, but if you have given your word... How long _will _you stay, then?"

"We can spare no more than a week, my lord," Kagome answered respectfully.

Nodding to himself, Ryūjin inhaled deeply and said, "Then I see no other choice. You must be taught in our ways, but if you cannot stay... Yes, I'll send Susano-o with you. He is your uncle, my brother, and a lover of the sea, as well, though his specialty rests more with hurricanes and other such storms. He'll be able to teach you with common immortal abilities, as well as hone your natural talents concerning the tides. Yes, I think that will do nicely."

"And when can we expect to be off?" Sesshōmaru asked, politely disinterested in the whole thing. He was far more concerned with his own father's threat of a party sent to retrieve them. He would not return home a failure in such a simple mission.

"Well, Susano-o is currently with his wife, so it would take... two days? Four, at the most, for him to be brought back here. As soon as he is here, you may be free to leave—although," he said with a quick glance to Kagome, "you should be aware that I have never once allowed my children to live apart from me, especially on the land of mortals. You don't belong there, my daughter. You know this, yes?"

Kagome said nothing, but stared into his eyes for a long, immeasurable moment. Would he prevent her from going if he knew she had no intention of returning? Would he allow her to live with mortals, since he hadn't raised her, and indeed barely knew of her existence?

"I can promise nothing, my lord," she answered finally, "but I will tell you that I'm very attached to some of the humans I've known. I would very much like to stay with them for as long as I may. I can, however, promise you that I will visit you most frequently." She hesitated, biting her lip. "Well, once the war's over, at least. I don't think I could make this journey a third time after getting home."

The sea god laughed. "You wouldn't have to," he assured her. "I told you before a kami has many abilities that bend the laws of nature. One of them is to travel any distance almost instantaneously. Susano-o will teach you all about that once I've contacted him."

As they rounded another gentle curve in the barely-visible path through the woods, Kagome and Sesshōmaru came to a sudden stop. Unconcerned, the sea kami continued on without them, jumping lightly onto the patio of a sprawling, exquisitely lovely castle. The wooden beams supporting the roof were carved in the form of dragons, the roof tiles blue as the sea and sparkling with a gold sheen in the sunlight. It was a dazzling first sight, and this wasn't even Ryūjin's primary castle!

Kagome sighed and smiled weakly at her companion. "I guess I have a lot to learn, huh?"

Sesshōmaru nodded, his face betraying nothing.

His reticence did not bother Kagome so much anymore. She had come to know over the past few months that her friend, for she believed he was her friend regardless of what he might say on the matter, was just reserved by nature. He had grown up keeping his true feelings from everyone, it was nothing against her. In fact, judging from his expression and loose body language, she would have said that he still seemed very relaxed... well, as relaxed as Sesshōmaru ever was.

So she sighed dramatically and added, "And I've got to learn it all before the yōkai after your father decide they've waited long enough to attack. Who knows how much time that means for me?"

Instead of assuaging her fears as any other friend would done, Sesshōmaru merely said, "You can do it."

His matter-of-fact bland tone actually made her feel so much better than the false words of encouragement she would have received from anyone else. She knew exactly what he meant, and appreciated the honesty. It wouldn't be easy. She would have to work exceptionally hard and learn very fast. It would perhaps be the most difficult task she had yet undertaken in her life. But it was possible.

* * *

Kagome hurt everywhere. She hurt in places she hadn't even known _could_ hurt.

She collapsed at the base of a large tree, its roots pushing through the dirt and snarling around her like thick vines, and just laid there, panting and sweating, trying to understand why the hell she had wanted this. Then again, when her father had told her that Susano-o would train her, she had thought he meant that he would train her—how was she supposed to put it?—immortal abilities or something. But instead, Susano-o had taken one look at her and calmly informed her that strong body meant strong will, which in turn meant more powerful kami.

She was now being viciously trained in swordcraft and, above all, stamina. Everyday, she would be made to run for an hour, train with the sword for two, run again for another hour, break for a meal, swim (of all things!) for an hour, and then martial arts training for yet another three hours. After that, she was "free" to spar in any style of combat with Susano-o or Sesshōmaru for a time. This concession had surprised her greatly, especially Sesshōmaru's willingness to participate in her training. She hadn't expected him to be an active helper in her mission, only to help her retrieve a tutor and escort her home safely.

She couldn't deny that she was pleased by it, though. Sesshōmaru, like his father, was an expert swordsman. What he lacked in martial ability he more than made up in his swordplay, using his weapon as a complete extension of himself. There was no discord between he and his blade, they moved together in perfect harmony. She could only hope to become half so skilled, and training with him daily seemed to be helping a little towards that goal.

What surprised her even more than Sesshōmaru's participation in her training, however, was the fact that her daily runs were _not_ the hardest part of her training to adjust to. She'd worried that, with her lack of physical discipline in her life before, she would be a panting, sweating, heaving mess within minutes of starting the run. And indeed, she was, at least on the first few attempts. She was still steadily improving her stamina. But no, running was not the most difficult. It wasn't even swordplay, which she had also believed would break her before she even got started.

No, by far the most challenging physically and mentally was the martial arts. She hadn't realized that practitioners of 'the Art,' as Susano-o called it, did _so much_ in the way of training and keeping in shape. There were the activities she had expected, the physical trials: hand-to-hand combat, aerial/balance, speed, and strength training. But she had not expected the Art to include so much mental honing as well. Susano-o told her that to be even a half-decent warrior, one had to have discipline and thought. This, to him, meant she must be trained even further in tactics and strategy, diplomacy and critical thinking, and above all, precision. It was imperative that she learn how to deliver an incapacitating blow with as little energy expended as possible.

All of this her teacher set her to master before he would even consider introducing her to kami skills.

Beneath her tree, sweat dripping languidly down her temple, Kagome sighed. _I'm so done._

"You done pouting yet?" Susano-o called from across the small meadow where they were currently practicing.

"I'm not _pouting_!" Kagome shouted back indignantly—or _tried _to. Her exhaustion had lowered her voice to no more than a hiss. They had been at this intense regimen for four days now. On top of that, she didn't even have a reprieve at end of the week to look forward to: Susano-o was returning with her!

"Then what are you doing, flopped over like a dead fish? Break time's over, little girl!"

Kagome had never been so tempted to hate a man in all her life. Susano-o was arrogant, he was cocky, he was demanding, and he was just plain _mean_. If he managed to strike her because she had dropped her sword, which admittedly happened quite often, he would complain that she was a worthless fighter and should just hide behind the Inu no Taishō when the war came. If she fell off her horse when practicing her combat skills while astride a horse, he would snap that she was scaring the animal with her ineptitude and that she should just walk beside it. If she ever lost her balance when training in the martial arts, Susano-o would claim that she was the worst student he'd ever had the misfortune of training and that she would never be of any use to anybody.

Sesshōmaru, however, liked Susano-o. He admired the kami's methods of training. "It isn't his job to _like_ you," he'd informed Kagome when she'd complained to him of her treatment. "He's supposed to train you to become a strong, capable warrior. And you _are_ learning quickly, aided all the more by your intense desire to prove him wrong, yes?"

And though she ached to deny it, she knew he was right. Under the intense oppression that was Susano-o, Kagome was blossoming into her full power so much faster than anyone could have had a right to expect. Despite what her uncle would have claimed, she was not learning so quickly because he was that fantastic a teacher. No. It was because he, unlike any other tutor Kagome had ever had, made her feel inferior. He constantly put her down, repeatedly stamping out any ego that came from even the slightest progress. And that, more than anything, made her want to do better. It made her want to smack that smug smirk off his face with her amazing skills.

_...Well, the skills I _will _have once I'm done with this stupid training._

They had already been at this for four days. Sesshōmaru, she knew, was fairly itching to leave. It made him uncomfortable to leave his home for long periods of time, but not for reasons she would have thought. She had asked him if he missed his parents or homeland and received a scoff in reply with nothing else. She had asked if his haste was due to his eagerness to have his pedestal of power returned to him. While he had teasingly admitted that he liked putting others in their place from his 'pedestal,' that was not the reason he so badly desired to leave.

But he wouldn't tell her what that real reason was, no matter how often she asked. He only repeated again and again how they were tarrying too long here. After a while, she simply gave up asking. _Let him have his secrets_, she thought, _it's not like he knows everything about me, either. It's not fair to ask him such personal things, anyway._

On their fifth night at the sea kami's secondary castle, seated in the large dining hall that was Ryūjin's favorite room for the space it provided, Kagome was assailed yet again by her tutor and father. This time, however, she was not offered pointed complaints or barbed jabs, but compliments and encouragements. Both she and Sesshōmaru listened in—in _her _case stunned—silence while they spoke of her progress.

"You're coming along quite nicely, Kagome," her father said, shooting her a brief, proud smile. "Much faster than anyone thought."

"But she still has a long way to go," Susano-o pointed out. "She has yet to begin her real training. She's taken to the _mortal _physical trials, but can she withstand the immortal ones?"

"I have no doubts in her abilities," Ryūjin said, completely serious for once. "I only wish I could be there to witness her progress in _that_ regard first-hand. But, I suppose, seeing the finished product will more than account for the loss. She will, no doubt, be one of the most famous of kami to date—for a talent, of course, we have yet to discover. Any ideas yet, brother?"

"Not a one." Kagome was surprised to note that her uncle sounded slightly disappointed by this truth. "Still, as I said, we haven't begun her true training yet. It would have been a real shock to all if she had revealed any raw affinity at this time."

"And you plan on leaving when?" Ryūjin turned to Sesshōmaru.

"The sooner, the better," Sesshōmaru said, his voice loud and clear in the still room. "I was hoping to depart as soon as tomorrow."

"Well, tomorrow is certainly out of the question," Kagome's father brushed aside. "However, I do see why you would want to leave so quickly." At Sesshōmaru's surprised look, the sea kami smiled and informed him, "Your father is one of my dearest, oldest friends. Of course I have heard of his doings, and I can see why they would trouble you so."

Hesitantly, as though unsure, Sesshōmaru nodded. But he _wasn't_ unsure, Kagome knew this somehow inherently, just _cautious_. And what were these 'doings' her father somehow knew about? Why would they bother Sesshōmaru? As far as she knew, nothing bothered the yōkai prince. She'd have to discuss this with him later when he visited her on her porch after supper, as always.

"And why can we not depart on the morrow?" Susano-o asked, cocking a lazily indolent brow at his brother. "I travel with them, remember. It makes no difference where we are, so long as every moment is used wisely. When we stop to sleep for the night, I can train Kagome no matter the terrain. In fact, it would make the lessons that much more useful to her."

Ryūjin looked around the table flatly, but there was a hint of desperation in his glance that Kagome recognized. She had not known him for very long at all, but of every day she _had _known him she'd spent a great deal of time acquainting herself to him. They had grown rather close in that time, as close as an estranged father can be to his daughter in five days' time, but she knew he would feel the loss of her presence keenly. She was his youngest child now, as Kun-Loon had been the last woman he'd taken for a lover in recent years. All of her supposed half-brothers and -sisters were either keeping to themselves in his undersea palace or were off around the world, honing their own talents and skills.

She was, in essence, his youngest, last child. His 'baby.'

"After the war, I will visit you as often as possible," Kagome promised, adding, for effect, "Father."

It had the desired effect on the kami, but Ryūjin was nothing if not practical.

"And who is to say you will survive this war? Skilled though you may be, there is no defense against carelessness. Even a moment's hesitation or distraction and I would never see you again."

Kagome bit her bottom lip and nodded, acknowledging the truth of this statement. Slowly, thinking through her words, she responded, "But I have friends now; friends that will protect me in battle as fervently as I'll protect them. Sesshōmaru, for one." She sent a teasing glance to his impassive face and said, "Old crank though he is, he's still one of my closest friends. One of my _only _friends. I know that, despite what he may say, he'll look after me."

Taking her completely by surprise, Sesshōmaru nodded his agreement in his usual slow, self-assured manner and added, "I gave an oath to my father that I would protect her with my life. No time limits were laid out. It would seem that my protection of her will be a lifelong endeavor."

Ryūjin nodded as well, accepting that, and said sincerely, "And the protection of the Inu no Taishō's son is no small thing." He hesitated, then said, "However, it does not completely assuage my fears. I strike a bargain with you: Kagome must fight a duel." At Sesshōmaru and Kagome's sharp glances, he elaborated, "Not to the death, of course. The duel will stop when she or her opponent completes a strike that _would _have caused death. If Kagome wins the duel, I will acknowledge that her mortal training has been all but mastered. She will still practice the same exercises with Susano-o, but they will merely be that: exercises; no lessons on that anymore. She will then begin her immortal training—and she will be allowed to leave tomorrow morning. If she loses, however, she will go through three more days of mortal training before being allowed to leave."

Kagome looked to Sesshōmaru, who nodded almost imperceptibly. It sounded like it was the best offer they would get from the kami. Sighing a little in apprehension, Kagome turned back to her father and said, "I accept the challenge."

"Who shall be her opponent?" Sesshōmaru asked, almost before the words were completely out of her mouth. Kagome gasped. She hadn't even thought of that! What if it was someone really tough? There was no way she could beat anyone other than a weakling!

At this, Ryūjin smiled to him. It wasn't quite sinister, but it wasn't quite benign either. Kagome shivered, expecting the worst.

"Well," her father finally said in a blithe, matter-of-fact tone, "I can't exactly trust a person to guard something precious to me without first judging their own skills."

This time, when Kagome gasped, she thought she heard an echoing, little indrawn breath from the daiyōkai to her right as well. Certainly his eyes were wider than normal.

"Kagome's opponent shall be _you_, Sesshōmaru."


	6. Chapter Five

_Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi_

* * *

**Chapter Five**

"All right, the rules are these: no leaving this field, no using another person or another person's property for purposes of hiding or deflecting blows, and no supernatural attacks—Kagome, you don't really know any, so that pretty much goes only for you, Sesshōmaru. None of your poison claws, and the like. Raw strength does not count as a supernatural attack for either of you, since it is as much a part of you as your eye color. Alright, any questions? None? Then begin!"

After Susano-o's declaration, Kagome felt her blood run cold. A dusky twilight was settling over the small field on which they stood, she and Sesshōmaru staring at each other from opposite sides. This particular field had been chosen specifically by Susano-o for this fight, for it was on the opposite side of the island that Kagome and he usually trained on. Neither she nor Sesshōmaru had ever been over on this side, leaving both of them on even footing with the unfamiliar layout of the land.

Sesshōmaru stood calmly, almost relaxed as he stared her down from across the expanse of thick, dark grass. Kagome felt her hands trembling. She knew Sesshōmaru would never hurt her; that thought hardly crossed her mind. No, she was frightened of the fight for another reason. Sesshōmaru wanted her to win, it was true. He wanted to be off as soon as possible. But he would never, not in his entire lifetime, throw a fight to his opponent. She would have to win this one herself, or face his disappointment and frustration if she lost.

As she watched, he drew his borrowed blade from his sheath and held it loosely at his side. He didn't even bother raising it in a semblance of defense. His cockiness was rapidly pissing her off. He could at least _act_ like this arrangement was troubling him!

Kagome drew her own borrowed sword as well. Susano-o had promised to have one made for her as soon as she was declared proficient at the blade, but that day had yet to come, and so she was being loaned one of her uncle's most-used but still well cared for weapons.

Susano-o himself and her father stood far off to her right, hovering safely out of the way of the battle, but keeping a watchful eye on the two as they faced off.

No one moved. Kagome felt that, in that moment, none of them even _breathed_.

_Someone_ had to make the first move here. It didn't look like Sesshōmaru was very inclined to begin, so, attempting to steady her nerves with one last even breath in and breath out, Kagome charged him. She tilted her blade slightly downward to make it easier to disperse the momentum of her attack when Sesshōmaru parried, as she knew he would.

He did exactly as she had predicted, and as she caught herself after taking a step past him, she twisted her blade in her hand, swiping back up towards his back with the inertia of her charge. In an instant, Sesshōmaru had turned and blocked the blow. He refused to leave his defensive style. He couldn't even have the decency to seem annoyed by her attacks. Instead, he was the picture of complete and utter boredom.

Kagome felt her face flush with fury. Who was _he_ to mock her in this way? He was nowhere _near_ the pinnacle of perfection he thought himself!

Deciding that perhaps fighting dirty was her only chance of beating him—or at least of holding her own long enough to look like she was a worthy opponent—Kagome kicked the ground, letting her foot slide on the dark brown grass, making it seem as though she were going to kick Sesshōmaru's legs out from under him.

As expected, he immediately focused his defenses low. Quite pleased with herself at this sudden advantage, Kagome stepped on his sword and sliced at his throat. She knew she wouldn't hit him, her sword would be two inches from his skin as she pulled her arm back a bit while she swiped, but it might still count as a winning blow by her father and uncle.

But of course Sesshōmaru the Great saw what she had planned and easily ducked his head out of the way, knocking her own feet out from under her as he forcibly lifted his sword. As Kagome fell to the ground, she felt her blade catch on Sesshōmaru's cheek and watched in a sort of stunned slowness as it drew a shallow red line vertically down the skin there.

She was sure he would end this now. He had little patience for her once the first blood had been drawn, she knew from experience. But instead of slicing the make-believe death blow as she landed, sprawled on the grass, he did nothing. Kagome watched, confused and alarmed, as Sesshōmaru seemed to be fighting _himself_. His brows came together, his face clouded over, and he glared at Kagome in an anger that was directed internally. He was frozen, unable to make a move in his own mind.

Kagome slowly got to her feet and held her sword diagonally over her chest in a defensive pose, trying to ready herself to whatever he may decide to do once he came out of his daze. But what the hell was wrong with him in the first place?

For his part, Sesshōmaru was stunned. The momentary flick on his cheek was nothing. The wound was already healed thanks to his inflamed yōki. But that very inflamed yōki was the reason for his surprise. It was like he suddenly had two voices in his own mind, one speaking from his base, inu instincts, the other his cold logic.

_How dare she attack me!_ his yōkai half felt, and he heard more than felt himself growl as his instinctual fury almost overtook him.

**_It is a duel, you know this; calm down,_** he tried to reason with himself.

_Bitches are submissive! The mate never challenges her male unless he is leading the pack incorrectly! This is unacceptable! Show her! Punish her!_

_**This is a DUEL. We are SUPPOSED to be fighting!**_

Still, his instincts were screaming at him in ever-growing intensity. He had to punish her—no, that was ludicrous. It wasn't like they were mated. They weren't even declared interests of each other. What bearing should—?

_Punish her. Show her who the alpha is!_

With a frustrated, almost enraged growl, Sesshōmaru felt his logic give way. After all, sometimes, there's just no reasoning away your feelings.

Kagome couldn't stop the surprised yelp that fled her mouth as Sesshōmaru suddenly began moving again. He was different now. He was finally on the offensive, but it wasn't as Kagome had come to expect from sparring with him. His movements were jerky, uncoordinated. They seemed to be made from anger, not an impassive desire to win the duel. But what reason could he have to be angry? Sure, it was the first time she'd ever scored a hit on him, no matter how insignificant, but that didn't mean he should blow off the handle about it.

She was barely able to deflect his strikes, which increasingly became faster and more infuriated.

Taking her completely by surprise, Sesshōmaru eventually threw his sword away and started attacking with his claws and strength alone. Since this meant he needed closer proximity to her body in order to strike it, Kagome was now able to see the red bleeding into his eyes. She focused herself out of her fear, and finally felt his inflamed yōki swirling about him like a dangerously angry volcano that was only building up to the eruption. She lashed out with her blade and, as she'd expected, his left hand shot out and caught it easily, holding it at bay. Blood trickled from his palm down his arm, but he seemed oblivious, merely glaring at her from his scant distance.

Making a last-ditch effort to score herself another hit, Kagome let out a furious scream of exertion, let go of her sword, balled up her right hand, and punched Sesshōmaru right in the mouth. Obviously, with with her immortal abilities untapped and her human side weak as a newborn kitten (compared to him, anyway), Kagome's blunt force attack did practically nothing to the daiyōkai.

Except push him over the edge of control.

With an unexpectedly primeval snarl, Sesshōmaru lunged, his right hand wrapped snugly around her throat, pinning her to the ground with him resting gently atop her. Her sword was flung carelessly away, and his left hand, thus freed of prior obligations, snagged both of her own, holding them over her head.

It suddenly struck her that her father and uncle were being _awfully fucking quiet over there!_ Why weren't they declaring the fight over, and Sesshōmaru the winner? Why couldn't they see something was wrong with Sesshōmaru and stop him? Why weren't they _helping_ her?

Sesshōmaru's irises were completely scarlet, but he seemed to be holding himself back from transforming. He _wanted _to hold on to his human form, but she couldn't fathom the reason. Then again, she wasn't exactly in her right mind in that moment. To be precise, she was just about beside herself with fear. She had never seen the young prince, normally so self-assured and quiet, so uninhibited, so out-of-control, and so completely beyond her reach.

But then, perhaps he wasn't totally out of reach, after all. He seemed to sense her fear. He reveled in it for an immeasurably long moment, tickling his sharp claws over her throat as though toying with the threat of killing her here and now. Kagome felt her own heart beating in her chest, quick as a rabbit's and hard as a stone against her ribs. Her breathing escalated from sheer terror. The combined reactions, along with the rush of adrenaline in her system, made her feel as if she were literally vibrating with fear. Even though she clamped her mouth shut tight, a tiny whimper escaped her throat.

It was still loud enough to be heard by the yōkai prince. Kagome closed her eyes in abject defeat, waiting for him to end this. She could still feel his weight on her. She could still hear him growling in—wait. He _was _still growling, but the tone and pitch of the sounds had seemed to change.

She peeked open one eye. Yep, his eyes were still as red as freshly drawn blood. But the growls escaping his throat now weren't of anger or even irritation. They were actually quite pleasing to hear, she found, opening her other eye. Still letting out that strangely pitched sound, Sesshōmaru's face found its way into her hair, which was spread out beneath her. She felt him run his nose along the side of her neck and shivered.

That's when she understood why his growls weren't scary anymore. In his instinctual state, he was, for all intents and purposes, just another male dog. She knew about those. The alpha was almost always male, and he was usually only needed for the protection and order of the pack. Sesshōmaru had been instinctively demanding her submission, as if she were a female of his pack. Once he'd regained that, which he knew he had by the involuntary and humiliating whimper she'd let out, he'd dropped his aggressive behavior.

He was _soothing_ her now.

"Excellent! Wonderful!"

The sudden, outside voice made Kagome flinch in shock. Sesshōmaru's eyes suddenly returned to their normal golden hue, as if Kagome's father's voice had been a glass of cold water awakening him. Kagome blushed as his gaze took in their current position without surprise, but he didn't even have the decency to do that. He merely stood and took a step or two away from her to greet her approaching family.

Kagome, stalking after him, still caught his subtle clearing of the throat and shaking of his body, as though he were brushing off the previous mood or experience. She grumbled under her breath the whole two or three minutes it took for her father and uncle to catch up to them. Both were beaming.

"That was wonderful," Ryūjin repeated.

Sesshoumaru cocked an eyebrow. "It was a pathetic fight. Over in a matter of minutes."

The God of the Sea shook his head with a secretive smile. "Ah, but you don't know what we were actually looking for from the two of you. True, I wanted to test both of you in strength and aptitude before you left, but I also wanted to test something else. You see, your relationship has confused me ever since I first met the two of you." His ever-changing eyes, now settled on a pleasant color of blue-gold, met his daughter's. "You were so independent for a girl of this time, this society. You would tease and joke and argue as though you almost believed you were a man. But, whenever an important decision came up, you deferred to Sesshōmaru."

"I did—_do_—not!" Kagome spluttered, shocked and indignant.

"Yes, you did _and _do," Susano-o supplied. He smirked condescendingly. "For example, just last night when propositioned about a duel—you turned to Sesshōmaru for the answer. Or, as my brother has told me, when you first arrived—you left nearly all the talking to Sesshōmaru, relying on him to guarantee you a tutor. The list goes on and on."

Kagome, realizing that they wouldn't be swayed, merely glared in furious silence.

"And you, Sesshōmaru," Ryūjin continued, "were the most bizarre. You seem to be a very impatient boy, I must say, and quite used to getting your own way with little resistance. Yet you made this tedious journey with my daughter of your own volition. You protect her, indulge her... even seem to love her."

Kagome had already decided not to believe a word the two men said. They weren't correct in their assumptions about her, so why should they be in their assumptions about Sesshōmaru? Thus, she was hardly shaken when this little arrow was sprung from its bow. Sesshōmaru, however, went rigid at these accusations. He neither confirmed nor denied what they were saying, but it was clear that what they surmised distressed him.

Merely trying to show solidarity and comfort him at the same time, Kagome laid a hand on his arm and said to her so-called family, "You've misunderstood, that's all there is to it."

With that, she walked back down the path that Ryūjin had taken her down earlier in the evening, just after supper, which led her back to the hidden castle that had been her own home for the last few days. After a few moments of silence, Sesshōmaru was suddenly right beside her, walking with her. He'd clearly used his demonic speed to catch up, and the suddenness of it left her a little breathless. But then she calmed herself down and continued walking.

He was clearly still agitated, and she didn't want to disturb him when he was so deep in thought.

Besides, she still blushed when she looked at him. Once she'd figured out he wasn't going to hurt her, that he was actually soothing her, the feelings his growls and nuzzles induced weren't anything close to _fear_. She shook her head to banish the memories, the blush on her face darkening, and quickened her step. Sesshōmaru matched her effortlessly.

Finally, breaking the silence with a voice low enough to almost be whisper, Sesshōmaru admitted, "Ryūjin-sama is correct."

Not really absorbing the meaning behind his words, Kagome immediately pounced. "Oh, come on. Don't turn on me now. They're just being idiots. We're _allies._"

Sesshōmaru nodded slowly, and righted Kagome absently when she tripped over a tree root because she was too busy watching his face and not the path before her.

"I meant only that he is correct in assuming our relationship is somewhat... odd. I hadn't thought of it before, but now that he has brought it to my attention, I wonder why I didn't. It's rather obvious."

"What are you saying? That we _do _interact like an old married couple? Spare me, please. If _this _is what I have to look forward to in later life, I'll never get married."

He glanced at her levelly, but cocked a brow to let her know that her comment was unappreciated. She blushed a little guiltily. _Perhaps that was a little rude..._

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm just angry. I hate that they think they're so important and powerful and all-knowing that they can just sit back and judge me—judge _us_."

He nodded again. "I understand that." He caught her arm and made her stop walking and face him. She felt her face go up in flames when her eyes met his, her mind instantly flying back to the image of him resting above her. "But, Kagome, I think you are letting your indignation override your logic. Think of what they are saying, and look at the way we... _interact_. We _are _different."

Kagome felt her skin tingle with a chill she didn't receive from her tropical surroundings. "But _why_?" she whispered, and saw her own fear reflected in his golden eyes. She shook her head. "I'm going back to my room now. I need to think. I don't mean to be rude, Sesshōmaru, but please don't come to talk with me after dinner tonight. I... really need to think."

He nodded, and raised his brows in a semblance of humor. "I understand."

She gave him a half-hearted smile for his efforts before trudging back to the house. Sesshōmaru leaped away with his usual grace and dexterity.

Later that night in her bedroom, Kagome was visited by her father. After a first awkward moment when she'd angrily thrown open the door, expecting to see Sesshōmaru despite her wishes, only to see her father, they'd sat down on her patio and begun to talk seriously.

"I'm sorry if I've upset you, Kagome," he began, somewhat uncertainly. It was clear the God of the Sea was not accustomed to apologizing for anything. "I just wanted you to see what's right in front of you. In fact, I think that yōkai of yours may have already accepted the truth. I saw him thinking long and hard on it in the garden as I passed. He seems to have come to peace with something. That's all I want for you."

"Come to peace with _what_?" she returned, a little grumpily.

The kami took a deep breath, preparing to offend his daughter. "The truth," he said at last. "Right now, you cannot grasp it because you are a liar."

There was a long moment of silence, before Kagome finally exploded, "_Excuse_ me?"

Her father met her gaze calmly. "You are half-human and were raised by humans and unfortunately, my dear, humans are all liars."

"You can't make such a generalization," Kagome protested vehemently. "I've known many good, honest humans. I'd like to think I'm one of them."

"You, and all other humans, are liars because you think you know what is true. You think you _feel_ what is true. But you do not yet know what you _do _feel and what you _do _know."

"How so?"

"You desire and do not take. You love and are too afraid to feel your love. You conceal your vanity and pettiness from yourself." He took and short breath and looked her right in the eyes. "You are afraid to look into your soul and see what you are and what you want. That is why I think you are a liar, and why I sought to point it out."

He was gone before she could even form a rebuttal. Unfortunately, that left her free to think on even more confusing thoughts than she'd previously had to deal with.

_I don't defer to Sesshōmaru_, she thought angrily. _And I am not a liar!_

_You love and are too afraid to feel your love, _he'd said. Whatever. Who the hell was she supposed to love anyway? She loved the miko that had raised her. She loved Kōji-sama for doing everything he did for her. She even loved Ryūjin, new as they were to each other. She wasn't afraid of any of that.

So where did Sesshoumaru feature in this revelation?

All right, she admitted to herself, maybe—_maybe_—she respected his opinion more than most. But that was it. It was just coincidence that his opinions happened to be so logical and good that they wavered hers. And yes, maybe they did have an odd relationship or way of interacting, but then they were two really odd people to begin with. He was the distanced son of a dog general, and she was the halfling child of a human and a god. They weren't meant to have a normal relationship.

But then... she did also seem to understand him better than most these days. The way he laughed with his eyes; it was so often missed by everyone else. In fact, he expressed almost every emotion he had through his eyes first and foremost. Why was she the only one who had seemed to figure that out?

And yes, when he'd pressed her into the grass and made those soft growls she did feel a certain fluttering in her stomach and lower regions, but that didn't mean anything. She was sure those growls would have induced the same reaction in almost any woman he'd subject to them.

But the thought of him pressing _another _woman into the grass and nuzzling _her _the way he had done to Kagome had her balling her fists in a fit of fury.

_Oh, gods,_ she thought, nearly sobbing with fear and surprise, _it can't be... __But it is... __But HOW? __How did this happen to me?_

She finally saw that her father had been right all along. She _was _a liar. She _was _afraid. But who wouldn't be, in her position?

_I've fallen in love with Sesshoumaru!_


	7. Chapter Six

_Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi_

* * *

**Chapter Six**

The next morning was exceptionally awkward.

True to his word, Ryūjin was allowing Kagome and Sesshōmaru to leave. They rose shortly before dawn, preparing to leave right as the sun was rising. The farewell between father and daughter was awkward to say the least, filled with intense emotions that were surprising in their newness. But that awkwardness paled in comparison to the waves of discomfort rolling off of Kagome when she stood near Sesshōmaru, who she had found she could not even look in the eye anymore. To make matters worse, there was Susano-o. It wasn't that he said or did anything to embarrass her—in fact, he was staunchly determined to let them progress on the pair own from now on—but it was the looks he gave the two of them that had Kagome near tears of humiliation.

Why did she have to be so pathetic? Why was she so upset about this? Oh, that's right. Mr. High-and-Mighty Himself.

Sesshōmaru didn't seem changed at all. He spoke with her just as calmly as if the previous day had never happened. He still teased her, still scolded her when she displeased him—he really acted as if nothing had changed.

_And who's to say? _she thought. _Maybe nothing_ has _changed. Maybe it's just me. Maybe Ryūjin got it wrong, and only I've come to terms with my feelings. Sesshōmaru did say once that six months was a 'second' to him. What difference would eight make? It probably hasn't been long enough for him to think he has any feelings for me._

Susano-o, with the skills his immortality had bestowed on him, got them back across the ocean in even less than half the time it had taken for Sesshōmaru and Kagome to cross it in the first place. He somehow manipulated the waves so that they always beat on the back of the boat, urging it forward at a speed even Sesshōmaru couldn't have kept up with rowing. Thus, they reached land in about a day, and were left with a little more than three to get back to the Inu no Taishō's castle before he sent out a search party. Kagome had no doubts he'd do it, too, if he didn't see them by the agreed-upon day.

"Well, now we're out of my area of expertise," Susano-o remarked as they abandoned the boat at the dock and started walking through the sea-port town. "I shall have to rely on your guidance from this point on, Sesshōmaru."

"Haven't you come to mingle with humans before, Uncle?" Kagome asked curiously. "You can't have stayed in your palace all your life. Even in the short time we've been acquainted, I've come to know you better than to believe _that_. You wouldn't be happy unless you were interfering in some luckless human's life."

Susano-o met her gaze more than a little condescendingly. "Of course I've left my castle before, girl. But that doesn't mean I know my way to any specific destination on land. I always just wander, and when I'm done here, I can simply... appear back in my castle."

"Appear?" she repeated, noting his slight hesitation before the word.

Her uncle nodded, pensive. "It is one of the talents common to all deities, and one of the first you'll learn, as it's the easiest. You merely focus on where you want to be, and you're there."

Kagome lifted a brow in a manner not unlike Sesshōmaru's, though she'd never see it. "Just like that?"

He leveled her a sardonic look and repeated, "Yes, just like that. I told you, it's quite basic. It just requires a certain degree of concentration. Though, for you, I'm not so sure that _wouldn't_ be a trial."

Kagome had to resist the urge to sneer immaturely. She couldn't sink to his level, she reminded herself. Petty jabs and insults wouldn't make her seem any more mature to her uncle. So, instead of giving in to her desires, she merely looked back towards the road, following Sesshōmaru with the blind trust she was now used to bestowing upon him.

Glancing at her beside him, the yōkai offered to carry the girl's heavy pack for her. Still unable to meet his gaze, Kagome declined and quickened her pace as a distraction.

That night, when Susano-o finally decided to allow Sesshōmaru and Kagome to stop for the night, the trio set about setting up their camp. Despite his reluctance to gather firewood and other such menial tasks when they had been alone, Sesshōmaru almost eagerly left the makeshift camp to source out some kindling and returned, busying himself with the fire. While he worked, Susano-o began his first lesson on kami talents with Kagome, focusing on 'appearing,' as he called it.

"There has to be a better name for it than _that_," Kagome griped as they walked a few paces away from Sesshōmaru's fire into the brisk night of the forest they had just entered.

"There _is _no name for it," Susano-o countered sharply. Kagome had noticed his patience with her grew especially thin at night, when he was either hungry or tired, but her own exhaustion and hunger made her less forgiving. "Kami are so far beyond these mundane abilities that we do not even think of them. They simply _are_."

Kagome plopped to the ground in a pose not unlike the one she adopted when meditating in the morning and said, "So I just focus, you said? Focus on what, exactly?"

"Where you would like to be. You have to picture it in your mind. It doesn't take too much detail to get it right."

"I suppose I can try."

Her stomach grumbling fiercely, Kagome closed her eyes with a deep inhale. But she couldn't concentrate on anything except her own weariness and hunger. _Come on, think,_ she urged herself. _This is a test. You're going to look like a fool if you can't at least move two feet away!_

But, try as she may, her mind just kept wandering to food and sleep. _Or,_ she thought, _better still, _after _I've eaten and after I've slept. I'm always at my peak then. I have the most energy and that's always when I impress Susano-o. He'd never say it, but I see the look he gives me..._

"No, wai—!"

Her uncle's voice cut off, mid-word. Then all was quiet. Hadn't Sesshōmaru's fire just been crackling merrily? Hadn't her uncle been making quite loud grunts of discomfort as he squirmed around on the cold ground? Where were those sounds now?

She peeked open her eyes and looked around, stunned. Just off to her right, the sun was either just coming up or just coming down. But it had been the dead of night not two seconds ago! Dawn could not have come so quickly, even if they kami themselves had wished it.

She looked back for her companions and her eyes fell on the campfire, now nothing more than blackened wood that was beyond even smoldering. Beside it, Susano-o was snoring loudly. Sesshōmaru, ever half-awake, was leaning against a nearby tree, though he, too, looked asleep for once.

Kagome gasped, recognizing her own feelings and position suddenly. She stood off to the side of the makeshift camp, still fully clothed. More troubling than that, she wasn't bone-tired anymore. Nor was she hungry. No, she actually felt like she could take down the world right now with but a finger. What did this mean?

She searched her memories, praying somehow that she had failed Susano-o's lesson, eaten dinner and fallen asleep without somehow remembering clearly. Her mind dragged up no memories of the kind.

She had simply been there, hungry and sleepy, and then here, sated and ready for action.

"Susano-o! Sesshōmaru!" she hissed, throwing a pebble at her uncle.

Even asleep, the rock bounced off some sort of invisible barrier before the kami, but he heard the noise and grumbled to alertness. Sesshōmaru merely opened his angry eyes to her.

"What happened?" she asked, gesturing wildly to her pack, which still contained her belongings. She meant to imply that her pallet remained unused for the night, but her uncle and guide seemed not to realize this.

Susano-o sat up and glared. "And just what in all the hells took you so long?"

Sesshōmaru's brows came together in an echo of his rage, but Kagome blinked. "What are you talking about?"

Susano-o grumbled, rolling his eyes skyward in skepticism, and said, "You left the very first try. I told you it wasn't so hard. But you didn't stick around long enough for me to tell you how to get back. I did figure, however, that you would easily realize the way to return to us. Of course, being _you_, I should have known it would take you all night. Well, I'm sorry, girl, but we can't wait around all day while you catch up on your sleep after being away—"

"What are you talking about?" Kagome repeated. "I didn't go anywhere! One moment I was here, sitting on the ground in front of you, and the next I'm standing here, waking you up. Of course," she added quickly, remembering, "I didn't do exactly as you'd asked me. I couldn't concentrate on 'appearing.' All I could think about was getting some food and sleep."

Susano-o's sharp eyes met hers, and she saw that he was now taking her seriously. "And how hard were you thinking about that, being full and rested?"

"Well..." Kagome hesitated, wracking her brain for the truth. "I remember picturing myself after I've eaten and slept. How I'm always at peak performance then. How that's the time I always impress you."

He didn't bother to scoff at her assumption of his 'impression.' Instead, his mind seemed to have reached a rather startling conclusion.

"By the Gods," he whispered, his face going white. Even if he was a kami himself, he obviously was not prepared for whatever scenario his mind drew up for him.

"What?" Kagome begged. "What have I done? _What_?"

"You... It's preposterous to even think it, but I can come up with no other solution..." At Kagome's insistent urging, he finally said, "It would seem you've gone forward in time."

"I've... what?"

"Time, girl, time! Do I not speak plainly? This must be your gift. Your specific talent. I know your father's talked to you of it."

Kagome nodded, but Sesshōmaru cut in, "But Ryūjin-sama said that in halfings it is especially rare to see a gift. And that, even if one were to be present, it wouldn't manifest itself until later. After she'd mastered the basics."

"He wasn't lying," Susano-o said. He shook his head, got to his feet and began pacing agitatedly. "It's extremely rare to see a gift before even 'appearing' has been mastered, and especially, as you say, in a halfling. But I can think of on other solution, can you?"

"She dreamt it. She was so tired and hungry that, after she 'appeared' somewhere else, she ate and fell in asleep in a daze—and returned this morning. I can, in fact, think of _multiple _other answers."

Kagome leaped to her feet and glared. "I'm so glad to know your faith in my mental state is so strong!" she seethed.

"I said nothing about your state of mental health, calm down," Sesshōmaru said, his tone clipped and angry. He wasn't in the mood to put up with her this morning, not in light of this recent development. "But it is ludicrous to assume you've somehow gained control of your special 'gift' when you haven't even mastered 'appearing.'"

"Now there is where you're wrong," Susano-o pointed out, placing a more-restraining-than-comforting hand on Kagome's shoulder as she stared Sesshōmaru down furiously. It hurt her to know that he would rather believe her mentally incapable than to think she was somehow special. She knew she was being slightly irrational about it, but her feelings couldn't be reasoned with, and this cut her to the quick.

"I never said she had gained control of her 'gift,' only that she's found it," her uncle continued. "And, as there are no other immortals in living memory that have ever been able to warp time, I can't help her to control it. It will be something she will have to learn on her own. So, for now, we'll go back to the basics. Only this time, Kagome, when you're trying to 'appear,' think specifically of a _place_, not a _time_. Perhaps we can stave off your talents for awhile that way."

"You can practice more tonight," Sesshōmaru informed her brusquely. Kagome didn't bother commenting on bossiness. She was getting rather used to him making decisions for her as though she were his child or servant. Sometimes she was grateful for his habit of doing that, other times she wanted to claw his eyes out in irritation.

Susano-o, however, nodded his agreement. "We must be off. Already, we've lost a great portion of the morning."

Sesshōmaru was stonily silent throughout the day, leading them at a pace swifter than Kagome was used to. Of course, Susano-o looked at it as a workout, and would rap his sheathed sword on the back of her legs and ankles whenever she started falling behind.

For the first time in her life, Kagome was truly angry. _Who the hell does Sesshoumaru think he is, dictating to me when and where I can practice? When it's appropriate for me to have learned a new trick? When I'm supposed to leave my father, even? I might have been more willing to leave with him if he'd told me _why_ we were in such a hurry in the first place, but no! Of course he wouldn't do that! Who the hell does he think he is? He doesn't own me!_

Even her love for him couldn't blind her to that fact. It only served to make the ache in her chest hurt worse, and that, in turn, made her angrier.

When they finally—_finally—_stopped for the night, Kagome had worked herself up to being well and truly livid. Sesshōmaru offered her a choice of fish or whatever wild animal he could catch in the woods they were camped in for dinner, and she ignored him. She knew it was childish but she couldn't stop the urge to be mean to him. To inflict on him some tiny measure of the pain he'd caused her in the last few days. She wanted to hate him, but of course even she couldn't get _that _mad.

She noticed Susano-o sending a confused, questioning glance to Sesshōmaru before nodding her way. She saw Sesshōmaru shake his head minutely in response. It only irritated her further. They didn't have to walk on eggshells around her. They could talk. But it would seem Sesshoumaru had a limit for tempers. When Kagome rejected his offer of food, he had brushed it off. She'd had a long few days and she was half-human, after all. It was understandable, if slightly irritating. But when she practically threw her bowl at him when he offered to clean it for her, he had reached the end of his patience.

He flung his own bowl to the ground and stood. Kagome realized that she was in trouble now and tried to turn away from him as though she wasn't bothered, but Sesshōmaru grabbed her upper arm and yanked her to her feet.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Turn me loose this instant!"

Ignoring her protests and her uncle's chuckles, Sesshōmaru merely dragged her into the woods, far enough away where they wouldn't be overheard by nosy uncles. Only there he did drop her arm as though it were something disgusting. At least, that's how it seemed to her.

"How dare you drag me out here! I don't know who you think you are, but you can't just force people into your company, particularly those that can't stand you in the—!"

"Silence!" Sesshōmaru snapped, his hand coming down over her mouth roughly. Kagome glared at him over the offending appendage, but made no move to remove it. She knew he'd probably bind her hands if she even tried. He returned her gaze coldly for a few moments and then said, "If I move my hand, will you be still?"

Seeing no other alternative, Kagome nodded her affirmation. Her glare never relaxed though. She had never felt closer to hating someone than in that moment, even if she knew most of her anger was stemming from her worries of unrequited feelings. He was still being a prize jerk to her right then.

"Good." The hand was gone in an instant. "Now. You've been acting like a petulant child all day. What is the matter with you?"

"_Excuse _me?" Kagome laughed derisively, noting with grim cheerfulness that Sesshōmaru winced slightly at the sound. "I'm not the one with the problem, Sesshoumaru, _you _are!"

"How so?"

"Do you even hear yourself when you talk? Look at what you just did to me, dragging me into the woods! You don't see a problem with _that_?"

"No. Not if it meant getting you to cease this tantrum of yours."

Kagome could have screamed in frustration. "Fine. I've only got about ten more examples. You're always doing this to me, Sesshōmaru. You never stop to ask me what I want, how I feel, you just assume and act! When we left my father, that was all your idea! We could have stayed a few more days and made it back in time, but you didn't care that I might want to do that. And yes, I realize you have some important pressing issue that's taking you back to your father—so, for the sake of all that is holy, _share it with me_! Why can't you just _talk_ to me?"

They stood in silence for a few moments, Kagome breathing heavily after her outburst, until Sesshōmaru surmised, "That's what this is really about, isn't it? What your father said about us being different together. I haven't spoken to you about it and that is really what has you so upset."

"It is not!" Kagome tried, but it was futile. The righteous anger had gone out of her voice, leaving behind a shaky uncertainty that she was not alone in her own mind. How in all the hells had he made that leap so easily, so quickly? Did he really know her so well?

"Not to mention your new aptitude at immortal talents frightens you," he went on, his tone giving away nothing. It was like he was rattling off the different species of animals in the area: unimportant, but potentially of interest. "Only then, as you say, my haste to return home. Why didn't you just tell me these things? I thought we'd spoken about _that_, at least."

"Because...!" Humiliatingly, Kagome felt like she was about to cry. "Because all those preachings from you about communication and speaking with each other—it's all utter horse shit! It's only expected of _me_! _You_ never share anything with me! Well, I have news for you: _I don't do double standards_!"

When it was clear she was done speaking for the moment (catching her breath, it would seem, after screaming herself hoarse), Sesshōmaru responded, pensive but flat, "I see your point. You can cease the theatrics now."

Kagome's throat burned too badly to allow her to shriek at him as she would have liked, but she did glare fiercely. It was a mighty impressive glare, one which would have frightened a lesser man, but unfortunately, Sesshōmaru knew her too well to be frightened. He knew, while despising the cliche, that she was 'all bark and no bite.' He met her glare easily, calmly searching her eyes for something she didn't know.

Whatever it was, he seemed to find it, for he inhaled sharply through his nose and said tersely, "My father is having an affair."

Kagome nearly fell to the ground in shock and confusion. "What?" she repeated blankly, anger forgotten in an instant.

"My father is having an affair," the daiyōkai reiterated sharply. "There's your answer to all questions. May we retire for the evening now?"

"Wait, wait, wait." Kagome shook her head, utterly bewildered. "Kōji-sama is cheating on your mother? When did this happen? What else don't I know about? And how in the world does that answer _all_ my questions?"

He gave her a withering look and, without moving, recited as though reading from a list, "My haste to return home—I must try and convince my father to end this idiocy before he does something irreparable. And what your father said about our... relationship—forgive me, but I have a hard time believing I could have found my life-mate so soon. My father's ease in taking a lover has only proven to me that nothing in love is permanent, and nothing about you and I has convinced me otherwise."

Kagome felt like she'd been slapped in the face. So because his father was bedding another woman, he didn't believe they had any long-term potential? He didn't think _any_ couple had long-term potential? Where was the sense in that?

"So..." Embarrassingly, her voice broke on the word. She cleared her throat and tried again. "So, if you don't believe we're meant to be mates, then what do you think my father saw between us?"

Sesshoumaru shrugged carelessly, moving a step away. "It could have been any number of things. Lust, trust, a mutual respect. All of those things combined. However, I do not believe there is love, as he claimed."

Kagome shook her head, covering her eyes in frustration. "You're forgetting one very important thing."

"And what might that be?" came the skeptical reply from beyond her hand.

"Your father and mother have never said they were life-mates."

There stretched so long a silence after this remark that Kagome had to move her hand to make sure Sesshōmaru was still with her. He was, just standing there looking mildly surprised. Even that diluted emotion was soon masked too, though.

"A valid point," he finally conceded, and his tone was so detached she could have almost tricked herself into believing they were discussing the weather.

"Oh, don't do that, please," Kagome begged, impulsively grabbing his arm with both hands. Glancing to her small hands in surprise, Sesshōmaru merely raised a brow. "Don't cover it all up," she elaborated. "Don't _hide_ from me. I'm your friend if nothing else, and I want to help you in whatever ways I can. But to do that, I need to _see_ you."

"And what if I don't want your help? What if I don't need it?"

"Out of everyone I've ever known, Sesshōmaru, I think you need me the most. Maybe not even me. You just need _someone_ to care for you—to see you for what you really are and care for you just the same."

His eyes narrowed infinitesimally, but he said nothing.

Kagome decided enough was enough, she had said her piece and screamed at him enough for one night, especially after this latest revelation she'd given him. In a move that surprised even her, she sighed and brushed her fingertips over the markings on his cheek in an effort to show her true concern and care for him. That, despite everything he might think, he wasn't alone. Then, without a word, she turned and walked back to the camp. She wasn't sure if he followed her or not; she didn't look back.

* * *

They traveled in a near constant state of silence the next day.

Sesshōmaru, having returned to the camp very late the previous night, made no move to start a conversation. In fact, watching his stiff posture as he led their group, both Kagome and Susano-o were too cowed to attempt to talk to him. The proverbial black clouds of turmoiling emotions hanging around him had them too intimidated to talk to _each other. _Hence the silence.

Of a much clearer mind on that morning, Kagome was also feeling an intense humiliation and embarrassment at her actions the previous night. Had she really said those things to Sesshōmaru? Had she really screamed herself hoarse at him? Worst of all, had she really _stroked his cheek_? The burning shame in her face smugly told her yes, yes she had. She wanted to bury herself in the dead leaves and dying grass she was trekking through and never have to look at him again. She was so embarrassed she couldn't even _think_ about looking at him.

That night, when they once again stopped for camp, Kagome was the one to pull Sesshōmaru aside. She had gathered up every last vestige of her torn courage, tattered pride, and shredded common sense, and took him far away into the woods, away from her uncle, to apologize.

"Look, Sesshōmaru, about last night..." she started, unable to meet his gaze. She nervously played with her hair while she stared at the ground. She let out a huge gust of air and said in a rush, "I'm really sorry. I can't believe I acted like that. You were right—I was exactly like a petulant child, and I threw a tantrum just like one. I just... I'm so sorry."

She bowed at the waist, grimacing at the ground, eyes closed in dread of his response.

Sesshōmaru, on the other hand, was more surprised by this apology than anything she had said the night before, barring only that statement about his parents not being life-mates. For some reason, that possibility had never occurred to him.

"Do not apologize," he said finally, and Kagome looked up, confused. "If you do so, I would have to forgive you, and that would mean I didn't believe everything you told me last night. But I did. You were the one who was correct, Kagome. My parents are partners; I simply always believed they were life-mates because of that. But, as you say, they have never said anything of the kind." In a rare moment of vulnerability, Sesshōmaru closed his eyes and turned away with a rueful grimace. "It was slightly more difficult to accept your assertion that I needed help."

Kagome waited, eyes wide and mouth slightly open in complete and utter shock. When he didn't go on, she prompted, "...but you did?"

There was a long, pregnant pause before he finally nodded. His eyes blazed with frustration and anger at admitting weaknesses, but he pressed on, and Kagome felt her heart expand and warm until it was a low burn for him in that moment.

"I realized that I have been pointing accusations at you, pointing out flaws in your own character, and have been blind to my own. I am not sure how to say it... When I was a child, everyone kept me at arm's length. I was the son of their Lord and general, and stronger than the rest from the beginning. Even if the other children hadn't been terrified of me, their parents knew I was not potential playmate for them. I was always being taught something or other, and there were never _friendships_ or other such emotion-based affairs that you so thrive on. I used to blame them for it. Everyone; my parents included. _Especially_ them. They were the reason I was treated differently. Now, of course, I am grateful for it. I am, besides my father, the strongest warrior on this side of the country. Where are _they _now?"

Kagome didn't want to move. She was even afraid to breathe, lest she break Sesshōmaru's sudden confidence in her and shatter this rare moment. She wanted to cry for this man's childhood. How lonely it must have been. And to hear him trying to play it off now, as though those years of being alone had meant nothing...!

Sesshōmaru hesitated, staring off into the past, at things she could never see. "Then, upon your, er, _suggestion_"—he shot a wry, almost teasing glance to Kagome, who blushed with frustrated embarrassment at the memory of her berating him—"I realized that they weren't shunning me because I was so very frightening or above their caliber. They weren't even excluding me. After being ignored and held at a distance for so long, _I_ had started to distance _myself_. _I_ was to blame for my ostracism. I had been so closed-off and uncaring to everyone for so long, they all stopped trying to reach me. Even my parents stopped trying."

He took a breath and looked at Kagome, who started with the sudden directness.

"But you realize, of course, this changes nothing," Sesshōmaru concluded. "There is nothing to be done for this situation I've found myself in, nor would I _want_ to do anything to change it. I have never needed many things in my life, and excess drives me to anger. I have my health and my strength, I have my family, and I have—"

He broke off, looking momentarily confused.

"What is it?" Kagome asked, offset by his bewilderment.

She wasn't sure if he was just in the groove of being heart-breakingly honest, or if he just didn't care that she knew, but, to her complete astonishment, Sesshōmaru answered her question in almost too much honesty. "Well, for some reason, I was going to say I had _you_—but why would that be of such great importance?"

Kagome wanted to laugh at his legitimate confusion, but his words hurt a little. "Well, we _are_ friends, aren't we? I'd like to think you like having me around just a _little_," she joked lamely, trying to lighten the atmosphere a bit.

Sesshōmaru didn't respond. He just stared at her in perplexed silence. Then, as though lightning had struck, his face cleared into utter shock.

"When did that happen?" he demanded in a stunned voice, seemingly of himself.

"What?"

"You! When did this...? When did _you_ become the only person I can really talk to?" Kagome was taken aback by the anger in his still-surprised voice, but she felt herself become too hopeful at this turn of events to feel hurt over his tone. His intense golden eyes bored into hers until she felt she _had_ to look away. But she didn't. His soft voice interrupted her whirling thoughts.

"When did you become the most important person in this world to me?"


	8. Chapter Seven

_Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi_

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

"Kagome, I'm very disappointed in you. How could you do something so reckless? You know better than to attempt something like that if you're unsure how to do it—and especially if you _know_ you're doing it wrong!" Kagome barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes. They'd been home no less than five days now, and Kōji-sama had yet to let go of her recent brush with danger. "Do you realize what could have happened? You had no idea what you were doing, Kagome! You could have just as easily ended up fifty years into the future, after you'd eaten _then_!"

She knew he was just worried about her. She knew he was right. After she'd stopped to think about it, she'd become really scared. She'd had literally no idea what she was messing with, playing with time like that. It was as he said, she could have disappeared in the future and never known how to get back. She would have to be much more careful from now on, she admitted that to herself and to him. But was it enough? Of course not.

Hence the five-day-and-running lectures.

She happened to glance over to the far side of the room, where Sesshōmaru stood by the porch. She saw his small but very amused smirk in her direction and glowered balefully back. She knew exactly what he was thinking. She'd lectured him from her father's palace all the way home. Now it was _her_ turn to get her ears chewed off.

"Are you listening, girl?" her uncle interrupted her thoughts.

"Of course," she replied automatically, praying they didn't test her on the last few minutes.

The Inu no Taishō sighed and shook his head. The lull in the tides of lecture left Kagome a moment to really look at him. Since she'd been back, she'd noticed something was off in his appearance. Whether that was because she was now in on his little secret or just because something really had changed, she didn't know. What she _did_ know was that his face was grayer than before, and more drawn. He looked like he hadn't had a decent night's sleep in months. His gorgeous golden eyes were tight with a worry and fear that had nothing to do with her.

But when she'd left he'd looked happy and almost carefree. He'd been healthy and strong. What had happened in so short a time to alter him this way? She decided to end this discussion. Maybe if she did, he'd get some obviously much-needed rest.

"I realize that what I did was stupid and dangerous," she began, and the sincerity in her voice made her 'inu-papa' and uncle listen. "It could have easily gone a hundred different ways, all of them bad. I got off lucky, and I know that that could just as easily never happen again. I won't attempt to do something so foolish again. I will wait until the lesson has been completely explained first."

Sensing that this was the last she wanted to hear of the incident, Kōji-sama gave up with a nod. "Very well, then. See that you do."

He reached out and cupped her face for a moment with a sad smile before turning and walking off, hopefully for a nap. Now with nothing better to entertain him, Susano-o simply disappeared. Kagome walked over to where Sesshōmaru was and playfully tugged his hair.

"Bet you loved that, didn't you, jerk?" she asked, but the anger in her voice wasn't real and they both knew it.

"Why wouldn't I? You're entirely too presumptuous for a woman. You _should_ be put into your proper place every now and then. Not that the lesson will resonate with you for very long."

Kagome dropped her teasing expression and searched his eyes for seriousness. "Do you really mean that?" she finally asked.

"No," he easily responded. "Proper women are boring."

Kagome knew an opportunity when she saw one.

After their little spat in the woods, her relationship with Sesshōmaru had taken on yet another strange aspect. They _flirted_ with each other constantly. It wasn't so much to provide sexual tension or whatever else other couples used it for. Really, the two just loved catching the other off guard, so to speak. Kagome loved knowing that she had the power to make stately, composed Sesshōmaru bluster and blush like a schoolboy. Sesshōmaru, while deeply appreciating the values of the same, was in it for another reason as well: on a distinctly _male_ level, it pleased him to know that he had the ability to fluster Kagome, who, even to himself, he could admit was an attractive woman.

So, deciding that some more harmless flirting seemed to be in order, Kagome leaned towards him and said in a slow voice, "Oh, so you find me interesting?"

Unfortunately for her, however, Sesshōmaru had no intention of being the one who got flustered today. He wanted to become the one _causing_ the fluster.

Leaning even closer, knowing her issues with 'personal boundaries,' he responded, purposefully letting his breath hit her face, "Very much."

And just as he'd hoped, she lost it. Her face went bright red, her eyes grew wide, and she took an involuntary step back. She put a hand to her heart which, if he hadn't already been able to hear its erratic beats, would have clued him in to her fluster.

The smirk was back tenfold.

* * *

And so weeks passed. Despite daily reprieves with Sesshōmaru, Kagome's training intensified beyond her worst nightmares. She was now being made to meditate daily, and appear almost everywhere she had to go ("Just for practice; you clearly need more of it!"). She was also learning to tap into other assets the kami of creation had. Most she hadn't even known were learned _skills_ rather than innate abilities. She was learning to sharpen her senses, run at impossible speeds, fight with incredible strength, and see all things at once. That last was the one she had the most difficulty with.

"See all things at once?" she'd repeated when her uncle had announced that morning's lesson. "That's impossible."

_"It's not, actually. You should know by now that almost nothing is impossible to a kami—and, while that number is a little higher to a halfling such as yourself, you are proving to be quite adept. I'm sure you'll master this."_

_It was the first time her uncle had ever expressed any confidence in her ability. Hell, it was the first time he'd ever given her any kind of summation of his thoughts on her abilities that didn't end up insulting her._

_"Now," he began, all business, "to start, you must clear your mind as I've taught you. Empty it completely. No thoughts, just become one with your surroundings."_

_It took a moment for her, as always, but he was eventually satisfied and continued, "Now focus on one particular area. I don't care where. Perhaps the dog lord's castle. Perhaps the northern mountains. Just picture a place in your mind—but do not appear there!"_

_That was even harder. She chose the beachside town through which she, Sesshōmaru, and eventually Susano-o had traveled through. When she tried concentrating on that one particular place, she felt herself starting to slip away. _No!_ she commanded herself internally._ Just_ look_ at the place, don't_ go_ there!

_As she succeeded, she noticed that people were moving in her mind's eye. Her first reaction was to blink her real eyes open and start in amazement, but she held herself back. She might not be able to make this vision happen again if she messed up now._

_She knew they weren't memories, what she was looking at. She'd never seen some of the people before. But there they were, going about their daily lives as if she weren't even there. Even while she watched them._

_"Uncle, what is this?" she finally demanded._

_"Your second sight, as it were," he answered easily. She opened her eyes, and the vision in her mind faded away. "You had to master 'appearing' before you could learn it, otherwise you would have just run off to whatever place you were seeing. This is a sense that all gods have. How else do you think we keep track of all our worshipers? The moment we think of them, or the place they live—no matter what we picture, so long as we do not appear to it, we'll see it in our minds as it is happening."_

_"So I literally just saw that village on the beach right now? As if I were standing with them this moment?"_

_"Yes. Now, I'll end lessons for today if you promise to practice this for at least an hour. I want you to find both people and places, all right? Tonight, now, I don't care. Just do it before lessons begin again tomorrow, yes?"_

_"Of course. Thank you, Uncle."_

_His answering smile was a little sinister. "I can't wait till we get started on tomorrow's lesson."_

As it turned out, the next day's lessons were prayers. Since she was not an established deity yet, no one was praying to her. She felt lucky she'd been spared so long.

After Susano-o had rerouted the prayers he received to her, she figured out why he was such a crank all the time. True, kami could choose to put away prayers until a later time, but most often, the more unpopular ones as she would soon be just heard them as they came. Every time a person said or even _thought_ their name, the prayer was heard. It was enough to drive Kagome insane, and she wasn't even hearing them all. Susano-o eventually taught her how to shut them off for a while, so to speak, and listen to them all later. She decided then and there that that was what she would do, whether she became a popular goddess or not.

* * *

After one particularly grueling day about four weeks later, during which Susano-o had decided to sneak upon Kagome in her garden and attack her, Kagome collapsed beside a large fire pit burning in the center of Sesshōmaru's rooms and groaned aloud.

"I'm going to kill him," she promised weakly. "I swear, one of these days, I'll kill him."

Sitting regally at a low table, perusing various papers on ancient yōkai battles that Kagome found too boring to ask about anymore, Sesshōmaru responded absently, "That would be unwise."

Scoffing, Kagome rolled over onto her side and propped her head onto her hand to level a sardonic look at the yōkai. "I know _that_," she informed him. "But why does he feel the need to infuriate me so? He's really not even training me anymore. We mostly just practice the things I've already learned."

"It is not my place to question a kami's actions," came the vague reply.

Kagome frowned, staring unhappily at the distracted prince. Slowly, working around the stiffness of her legs, she got to her feet and walked over to his table, sinking onto a cushion on the opposite side of his table. She leaned her elbows on the wood, just staring at him. He ignored her.

"You are doing a terrible job of cheering me up right now," she finally informed him matter-of-factly.

"And when did I ever volunteer for that task?"

"You didn't. You were drafted. Now do your job."

He spared her one brief, sarcastic look over his paperwork, and Kagome laughed.

"Seriously, though," she said, sobering. "You've been cooped up in here for days, poring over that boring ancient history. Come to the kitchens and eat with me. Get some fresh air for a moment."

"I cannot." Without even looking up, he immediately sensed the tirade about to erupt from the outspoken halfling before him and added, cutting her off before she could really begin, "_But_ you may bring enough for us to share here and I will eat."

Kagome stuck her tongue out at him, childishly teasing. "Maybe I don't want to share a meal with such a grouch. Don't you ever _smile_ anymore?"

"Did I ever smile?"

"In your eyes, you did. Now you're just _boring_." Kagome sighed dramatically to lighten the tense questions she was leveling at him.

"You know why this is important, Kagome," he warned, finally setting down his papers to meet her gaze fully.

Kagome sighed again, this time genuinely. She flicked an imaginary speck of dirt off the table to avoid his eyes. "Yeah, yeah..."

"You have been training intensely for this coming fight for many weeks now. While I may not be doing so physically, I need to do the same. I need to prepare if I'm to be of worth."

The same mood that always struck Kagome when they talked of the coming battles came over her: mingled sadness, worry, fear, and above all, a pleading that it would never come.

"Why do we even have to fight?" she asked, and the supplication was echoed in her tone. "Who's to say it will even happen? We've had no attacks, no word of any uprisings. Perhaps the threat has passed."

Sesshōmaru stared at her, not unkindly, but she felt that only she could appreciate the barely-there flare of warmth in his golden eyes. "You are too intelligent to truly be so naive. You've known for quite some time now what would come. Don't bury your head in the sand and try to ignore it all now."

"I know. I'm just frightened."

"Don't be. It's as you told your father: I'll be there."

Kagome said nothing, but she privately felt that Sesshōmaru had completely misunderstood her. She was not frightened for herself, at least not in a great deal. She was frightened for _him_, of losing him and never seeing him again. It was _because_ he would there with her that she was frightened.

* * *

The end came far sooner than either of them had even though. Just days after that conversation, a horrible message came through to the Inu no Taishō.

Kagome had long noticed that with each passing day, Kōji-sama looked a little more ragged and a little more frantic. What he was so worried about, she didn't know. Sesshōmaru and his mother obviously did, but they wouldn't share with her. It became clear that Susano-o knew, as well, but it was unlikely that the loyal inu-daiyōkai had told him. He'd likely gleaned what he knew from his immortal wiles.

Kagome was out in the field on that day, learning to channel her seemingly endless amounts of ki into her weapons with her uncle. It was similar enough to her own innate miko capabilities that the lesson was fairly simple to her. Again, she just had to focus a bit more because her kami half was so much more powerful than her miko half, and that was saying something.

After a few hours of intense training in this vein, Susano-o suddenly raised a hand to halt her, panting, "Enough! Enough. I can't take anymore."

Kagome, not feeling even remotely tired even though the kami had been giving just as good as he got in the fight, laughed at him. "You getting old or something, Uncle? What happened to all that stamina of yours?"

"It's being used to protect this castle!" he snapped, not in the mood to play. _Not that he ever has been before,_ Kagome mentally grumbled.

"Protect us from what? We're fine on our own," Kagome scoffed. "We surrounded by the strongest of inu-yōkai. We ourselves are fairly powerful kami. I think we could handle just about anything."

"Silence! I need to concentrate."

Seeing the fear pinching around his eyes, Kagome obediently shut up. She felt herself start to become worried too. _What could be happening to make even a god feel frightened?_

With a start, Susano-o emerged from his own mind and gasped hugely. "Come, girl, we must find the dog lord."

"But what—" Kagome started.

"JUST COME!"

Kagome froze. Never in all the time she'd known him had her uncle screamed like that. Something was _very _wrong.

"Well, you've rounded us all up like cattle, Susano-o, so what is the problem?" Miharu-sama demanded mere moments later, cutting right to the chase. She was the only person besides Kagome on the entire property that didn't address the kami with respect, and he liked her all the more for it. He called her a 'spitfire,' and said it was an endearing quality in a woman. He didn't look so endeared now.

He ignored her completely and focused instead on her husband. "They're coming," he informed the dog general gravely. "Thousands of them. I couldn't see an end to their lines."

"Who?" Kagome demanded.

Instead of her uncle answering her, Sesshōmaru cut in, "Demons. But they've never amassed themselves before. They're just not that strategically-oriented in their thinking. Or so I'd always been taught."

"No, you are correct," Kōji-sama approved. He sank down into his chair and looked more defeated than Kagome had ever seen him. He looked as though they had lost the war already. "Any demon that had the intelligence to band with others usually joined us or moved away from here to escape the fighting. These are still just your sub-par run-of-the-mill weaklings. But, nonetheless, they _are_ amassed, and have been doing so for quite some time. It must be a sentient yōkai's doing. One of the dragons, no doubt."

"Indeed, my lord. They are led by the dragon king, Ryūkotsusei."

The room went deadly still. Even Miharu-sama went whiter than normal.

Kagome felt deeply left out of the loop. "Who is Ryūkotsusei?" she asked the room at large.

The Inu no Taishō answered her without looking as he covered his face with his hands. "He is, as Susano-o said, the dragon king. He is an enemy of mine from the Continent. I never dreamed he'd follow me here."

"Why would he?" she pressed.

"Many years ago, before I'd met my wife and inherited these Western Lands, I traveled the Continent. During my travels, I encountered a metropolis, a city, being completely decimated by dragon demons. The humans stood no chance. They were completely wiped out of the area. When I asked one of the dragons why they had attacked such a defenseless city, he replied, 'We were hungry.' He was so cavalier about it that I had to destroy him. Of course, that didn't go over well with his comrades. I soon found myself embroiled in a battle with about a hundred dragons, all on my own. I survived by killing them all. Ryūkotsusei swore revenge for my killing half of his army."

"And you didn't take him seriously?" Kagome asked skeptically.

He leveled a sardonic glance at her over his hands. "Of course I did, Kagome. I just didn't think he'd come _here_ to exact his revenge. He's always hated this land. He's not familiar with the territory."

"Then that may be to our advantage. We'll need all we can get," Susano-o informed him.

"How much time?" the dog lord asked resignedly.

"At best, I'd say three days... at worst, tomorrow."

* * *

Long after the others had left, Kagome and Sesshōmaru stayed in that little meeting room. They didn't speak. There really wasn't anything to say. What could you say when you could very well die the next day? Sesshōmaru stayed at the window across the room from where she sat by the fire, staring into the flames.

Kagome had known for very nearly a year now that this day was coming. She'd known all along that it would be difficult to survive, that she would be lucky if she made it without at least losing a limb. But knowledge doesn't mean a whole hell of a lot, especially when you start to feel. And what she felt was scared. There were so many things she'd wanted to do before she died. She'd wanted to travel, see the world, help people. She'd wanted to marry and have a _family_ for the first time in her life.

She hated letting herself sit through this pity-party, but she couldn't stop herself. Nor could she stop the tears that she felt were rising in her eyes. Sesshōmaru, catching the scent of them in the air, regarded her somewhat curiously.

"Why do you cry?" he demanded, his voice strangely soft, from his place.

"Because as I've told you a thousand times, I'm _frightened_, and you'd be frightened too if you had the sense of a goat," she shot back, fighting back sobs. She was embarrassed by her behavior, but at the same time, she felt it was completely justified.

Everyone else going to battle was either yōkai or kami. She was half-human, and therefore weakest link in that regard. If anyone were to die in the coming carnage, she would probably be the most likely candidate. But besides that, there was the ever-present fear of being separated from Sesshōmaru. She didn't know what she meant to him, but she did know that he was very nearly everything to her. She had come to rely on his presence in her life so much. Even if she somehow miraculously survived what was to come, if he didn't, there would be no point.

With an exasperated sigh, Sesshōmaru rose from his seat and came to her across the room. She stared at him miserably, a little angry that he still seemed so calm and collected.

"Aren't you the least bit scared?" she hissed.

"Of course I am," he responded easily, "but not for quite the same reasons you are. I am perfectly confident in _my_ abilities. I'm sure I shall survive this, though should something happen that would change that fact, I am not afraid of death. However, I..."

He paused, and Kagome felt her breath catch. There was something in his tone that made her heart beat loud and fast in her chest. Her tears almost instantly stopped flowing.

"I vowed to protect you," he began, and she nodded, as was clearly the expected response. "You know I would not let anything happen to you. But still, the possibility frightens me beyond all reasoning."

"What possibility?"

"...That I could lose you." He met her eyes, and his glowed with a fierce determination... and loyalty? "I will _not_ lose you. Even if I have to tether you to myself."

"Tether me? Sesshōmaru, there is no way I'm letting you attach us with a rope during battle." Kagome glared to emphasize her point.

To her surprise, Sesshōmaru gave her a faint smile, or his own equivalent of the expression. "Not with a rope you can see," he clarified. "Not a physical rope. I mean to tether us together in another way."

And when he leaned forward to press his lips to hers, all the pieces fell into place for her.

"NO!"

Using her immortal strength, she pushed him away from herself. Her heart was racing, her breathing was shaky, and her face was flushed, but she was determined to not allow this to happen... no matter how much she'd dreamed of him making her his mate in the last several weeks.

"Are you insane? Truly, Sesshōmaru, have you lost your mind? What made you think I would accept this?"

Sesshōmaru, more than a little confused but no worse for wear, said, "Because you cannot be without me." Before she could declaim this vain accusation, as he knew she would, he added, "But don't you see? I feel the same. Why else would I want to bond you with me for the rest of my life?"

"Because you made a promise to your father that you would protect me. You may be many things, Sesshōmaru, but the most prominent of them is honorable. If you promise to do something, you will move heaven and earth to make it happen."

"Yes," he agreed, "but in this particular case it benefits me to keep my promise. Because I need you, Kagome. Always."

Kagome desperately wanted to believe him. She could feel herself just dying to let go and accept the fact that he loved her, too.

"You once told me that six months made no difference to you, that it was a mere second in time," Kagome persisted. "What difference could nine possibly make?"

"All the difference in the world. It may have been short but it still _happened_, Kagome. Somehow, I feel that you know almost everything inside me. You are the most important person on this earth to me, I meant every word of that confession—far more than even I knew at the time. Knowing that something could happen to you within the next few days... I have to do this, Kagome. It's the only way I know to be _certain_ you'll be safe, and stay with me forever."

She turned away, shutting her eyes against him and the onslaught of emotion he was showing her with his eyes. This was _so_ unlike him. "You have to say it clearly, Sesshōmaru, or I won't be able to believe you."

He sighed. "I know the words you are hoping for, and they are not strong enough. They have become so mundane and trite, they mean almost nothing. I can't think of a phrase powerful enough to correctly denote just how badly I need you. But, if you wish it. I love you, Kagome. Will you stay with me?"

Kagome shook her head, and gave a tiny sigh herself. "You're only saying this because you're afraid we're going to die, but I can't find it in myself to care. Yes, I'll stay with you."

Nothing truly changed in his expression, there was no curl of mouth or hint of upturned cheek. But for a split second, Kagome was nearly blinded by the radiant, glowing joy and triumph and was beaming from his eyes. In the next instant, it was gone, replaced once more by that blazing determination. He leaned towards her but before he could kiss her again, Kagome put a hand to his face.

"I'm warning you now," she said, "I will not change just because we do this. I'm still _me_. I can't become your mother or any other 'regal' lady—not for you or anyone else."

He smirked at her. "I want nothing more. Who would pester me to 'share my feelings' if you weren't around?"

He slowly leaned forward, as though waiting for her to stop him again. She met his gaze with a small, shy smile and a slight shake of the head. And when their lips met for the second time, Kagome didn't feel sparks, or fireworks, or anything else the more romantic women in her life had told her she would feel. Well, to be truthful, she did feel them to a certain extent.

But what she really felt was a sense of _homecoming_. She didn't have to pretend anymore. She didn't have to hide her feelings—though she apparently hadn't done that very well in the first place. She was just Kagome and he was just Sesshōmaru. In their minds, there were no wars, no impending dooms. There was only each other, and that was something that both intended to explore for the rest of their lives.


	9. Chapter Eight

_Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi_

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

When the Inu no Taishō came to speak with his son the next morning regarding the upcoming fights, he was stunned to find Sesshōmaru was not alone in his rooms. Though he and Kagome were already dressed for the day and seemingly none changed from the day before, Kōji-sama knew instantly what had happened. Kagome's scent had changed throughout the night, taking on more of an inu-yōkai scent, and of her mate's flavor, to be sure.

Despite this, watching the pair of them interact before his presence was noticed, he was surprised to find that nothing seemed to have changed from the day before between the pair. They spoke to each other in the same manner as always, looked at each other with the same calm steadfastness.

Still, he embraced them both warming, calling for celebrations.

"Is this really the time, chichi-ue?" Sesshōmaru deadpanned as servants began bustling happily about, planning an elaborate human-style wedding ceremony to accommodate Kagome's other heritage. Kagome herself thought he had a point. They were expecting an outbreak of war and bloodshed at any moment, and Kōji-sama wanted to throw a _party_?

"When you get to be my age, son, now is all you've got!" the inu-daiyōkai replied jovially, but Kagome privately thought that this cheerful affect seemed a bit forced. Something was off about him that was somehow separate from the war. She'd known it for weeks now, she just still couldn't figure out what it was.

The three left Sesshōmaru's rooms and moved back to the meeting room from the night before, where the servants were busily setting everything about. Kagome shook her head at the ridiculousness, but said nothing to protest it. Susano-o was waiting for all of them in the room, watching the proceedings with an amused expression.

He smirked at his new nephew when Sesshōmaru entered the room after Kagome. "Good thing you've already built your new mate a home, hmm?"

Sesshōmaru scoffed and declared haughtily, "I had no intentions of delivering it to you. It is simply my inheritance. However, as you are now mine, the property belongs to you as well."

Kagome's azure eyes widened gleefully. "Where is it? Can I see it?"

"Not now, Kagome," the Inu no Taishō interrupted before smiling happily. "Now at last I can truly call you 'daughter.' You don't know how pleased that makes me, especially now."

Kagome wanted to question him, but they were interrupted yet again by Miharu-sama entering the room, attracted by the noise and commotion. Kagome's happy heart sank briefly. This was the moment of truth. If anyone could make their lives miserable, it was this demonness. Kagome prayed she'd somehow earned Miharu-sama's favor in the months they'd lived together.

Instantly, the Lady of the inu-yōkai picked up on the scent, just as her partner had done. "What is this?" she demanded of her son.

Sesshōmaru calmly raised one eyebrow, a perfect imitation of his mother, and informed her, "I have found my life-mate, Mother, and claimed her as such."

His mother's face showed no emotion at all as her eyes scanned her new daughter-in-law as though they had never met.

"I must admit," she finally announced, "that I had hoped you would choose one of your own kind. However, if that is an impossibility, I suppose Kagome is the next best choice. She is strong and determined and will bear me healthy grandchildren."

Kagome's face turned scarlet at the thought. _CHILDREN?_ she wanted to shriek. _In many, many years, _maybe_!_

Sesshōmaru, however, nodded in agreement. "She is also loyal and devoted," he added as though Kagome weren't there listening at all. "Our children will never feel loneliness."

The Inu no Taishō's eyes narrowed at this seemingly bizarre and out-of-character statement, but Miharu-sama accepted it without question. Instead, the demonness looked around at all the hustling and bustling and queried, "If you are already mated, what, may I ask, is going on here?"

Susano-o answered this time, rolling his eyes heaven-ward as though he believed this were the grandest waste of time he could imagine. "Kagome is half human, don't forget. This ceremony will honor the joining of Sesshōmaru and Kagome's souls in the human traditions."

"A marriage ceremony?" the demoness rephrased, glancing at her daughter-in-law. Kagome nodded, one blush fading into the next. Miharu-sama wife nodded slowly. "I have never attended a human bonding. I suppose you see something new every day, yes?"

* * *

After the impromptu marriage of half-kami and yōkai, said pair quickly fled the dog demon compound, if only for a brief respite. One transformed into a beautiful, immense white dog, the other rode his back. When they reached a certain point, Sesshōmaru gently deposited his wife to the ground and changed back to his human form. The two walked in companionable silence for some time, only Sesshōmaru knowing where the way, until Kagome asked, "Sesshōmaru, if we survive thi—"

"There is no 'if,'" the inu-yōkai replied, his voice a low growl. "I have tethered you to myself and I shall not allow either of us to be harmed by a parade of imbeciles."

Kagome blinked. "All right..." she replied slowly. "So, _when_ we survive this, will we live here together? What will happen to us?"

Sesshoumaru didn't hesitate. "Whatever you desire. I have no preference where we live."

Kagome bristled, her feelings hurt. "Don't you care whether you are with _me_ or not?"

"Did I not just say 'we,' miko? 'I have no preference where _we_ live.' I did not, however, say anything about a separation between the two of us."

"Oh. So... we have a house?" Kagome couldn't keep the glee out of her voice. She was thrilled at the idea of getting out from under her pseudo-father's thumb, love him though she did. Those brief fantasies she had entertained the night before, of herself has a wife and mother, mistress of a large household, suddenly seemed so much more attainable, and she was eager to make them reality.

"Technically, it is a castle. A compound quite similar to chichi-ue's, actually."

Kagome frowned. "Will I have to wear all those rich kimonos like your mother does?"

Sesshōmaru gave one small laugh, such a rare sound that Kagome felt obliged to commit it to memory. It was so rare for her to make him laugh. She beamed at him happily and impulsively reached out for his hand as they walked. She was pleasantly surprised when not only did he not make her release him, but his own fingers closed over hers.

"I believe," he said at last, "that it was part of our 'mating contract,' if you will, that you do not become my mother's double. Besides, it is _our_ castle for a reason. You are mistress and empress there. If you wish to conduct your day-to-day activities in a yukata, you could. Although, I'd strongly suggest you do not, for I'd hate to have to destroy the man who lays eyes on you in such a state of disrobe."

Kagome rolled her eyes before stopping dead in her tracks, gasping in delight. They had come to another clearing in the woods. A large field surrounded a wall of stone that rose higher than her head. Beyond that wall she could see the top of what seemed to her to be the most beautiful castle she'd ever seen.

The majority of the complex was one level, but there were parts that rose to two stories and even one section that had three! There were gorgeous gardens in and outside the wall, which seemed to surround the entire compound. One garden in the very center was the most beautiful of all. It held a lake with three red bridges from any side of the complex reaching towards the center 'island' of grass. There were so many beautiful, colorful flowers on that island that Kagome yanked herself free of Sesshōmaru and darted across the nearest bridge to stick her face into a bush of them.

"I take it you are pleased?" her mate's slightly amused, slightly exasperated voice inquired from behind her.

"'Pleased' doesn't begin to describe it," Kagome breathed rapturously. "Sesshōmaru, before I saw this place, I would have said that my father's island castle was the most beautiful place I'd ever seen. Now I'd be brave enough to say this place is the most beautiful on Earth."

"Good."

Kagome smiled up at him mischievously. "May I explore _inside_ now?"

"As you wish."

* * *

Barely three days later, Kagome doubted she could find joy even in a place as lovely and welcoming as her new home. The battles had been intense and so _fast_. So many demons had simply poured from the forest surrounding the Inu no Taishō's compound. There had seemed to be no end of them. Sesshōmaru and his father killed them by the droves, Kagome and her uncle slaying several dozen at a time themselves, but it seemed that for every one slain, another three came to replace it.

The worst had been Ryūkotsusei. He had challenged the Inu no Taishō specifically and neither would allow any others to interfere, not even Sesshōmaru. The battle between the two had been long and intense. The dog general sustained many grave wounds before finally sealing the dragon lord to a cliff. It was the most he could do with such a powerful adversary, especially after having been battling for the last few days beforehand.

In the aftermath, Kagome had let her eyes skip over the bodies of friends, lovers, husbands and wives laying on the battlefield. All were given honorary death rites, even the lesser demons incapable of speech, who were likely too stupid to have known they could have resisted their lord's will.

Kagome herself had lost a dear friend in the fighting: Kima, her favorite maid and closest yōkai friend besides her new family, had been slain in the initial assault, defending her little hut. She shivered, inching closer to the wall of her bedroom, thinking of all those bodies strewn across the fields surrounding the compound, the streets within the complex. Even the houses themselves. The carnage was unbelievable.

"Kagome?"

Sesshōmaru appeared in the doorway, looking perfectly normal except for a new bone-weariness around his eyes. Kagome raised her gaze to his numbly.

"Chichi-ue would speak with us," he announced, bending down to help her to her feet. "He waits on the shore."

They reached the restless shore very shortly thereafter, and, as Sesshōmaru had said, his deeply injured father stood waiting for them. Despite his wounds, he did not lean against his weapons. Instead, he stood tall and proud, a warrior through and through. The current was choppy, the waves crashing against the sand as angrily as if they knew what had transpired here, the amount of lives lost. Kōji-sama stood watching the sea, blood slowly seeping through his clothes and pattering into the sand at his feet.

"Kagome, Sesshōmaru," he greeted, his voice strong and steady, as though the numerous gashes and holes in his body were merely dreams.

Sesshōmaru's upper lip slid back over his teeth, his growl issuing into the night. The Inu no Taishō smiled sadly, ignoring his son's obvious demand for him to stop talking. Kagome blinked in confusion and put her hand on her husband's arm in question. He shook her off angrily.

"Kagome, I'm sure you're already aware of my follies," the dog general announced, turning his golden eyes away from his son. "The stupidest and most wonderful of all these has been my affair with Izayoi."

"Yes, I knew," Kagome answered, still feeling left out of the loop and confused. "But what's that got to do with anything right now?"

Kōji-sama smiled again, and this time, it was filled with so much pride and joy, so much sadness and bitterness, that Kagome felt herself fight back tears. What was going on?

"Izayoi is to bear me a child this night, if she has not already done so."

Sesshōmaru let out a strange sound, somewhere between an irate bark and a pained cry, and turned his back to his father. Kagome barely spared him a glance.

"But that's wonderful!" Kagome smiled, trying to look happy through her exhaustion. "Where are they?"

The dog lord frowned. "They are being held prisoner by her own family. Izayoi comes from an impoverished but noble clan. They will not tolerate the blood of a yōkai amongst them, nor will they allow one who has lain with such a man to stay with them."

"So what does that mean for Izayoi and the child? Are they to be banished?" Kagome asked.

From behind her, Sesshōmaru snorted and answered, "Izayoi is to be imprisoned in her compound for the rest of her days. The infant, however, will be put to death. The woman would be, too, were it not for her 'noble' blood."

Kagome gasped. "How horrible! We must do something!"

Her father-in-law smiled pleasedly, but also with exhaustion shining in his own amber eyes. "That is why I've called you here. I am weak, and only growing more so every moment. I need you two. You are the strongest and best fighters, but also the only two I can trust." His eyes turned to his son's back. "Please."

Kagome nodded firmly. "You saved my life as a child and gave me powers beyond my wildest imagination now. Whatever the plan, I am with you." She, too, turned her eyes to her mate.

"Sesshōmaru?" the dog general pressed.

"Why should I?" Sesshōmaru returned calmly, turning back to face his father. Kagome flinched at the coldness in his eyes. "What will I gain by saving a half-breed? Chichi-ue, surely they won't kill the babe tonight. Rest, heal, and go again when your strength returns."

The Inu no Taishō shook his head. "It must be tonight. Did you not see the lunar eclipse? It will be viewed by the humans as a most unlucky sign, and my child will be blamed. Sesshōmaru..."

"No."

Kagome sneered at him. "I thought dog demons were loyal to a fault, especially to their family."

Sesshōmaru's eyes narrowed at her. "They are. I am. However, I feel no loyalty to a half-breed. It is not my kin."

"I wasn't referring to the baby, though I'm disappointed to find your opinion of it thus," Kagome snapped. "I meant your father. How could you deny him this?"

The prodigal son didn't answer. Instead, he glared balefully at his father. In a strange sense, Kagome thought she saw betrayal flicker in her mate's eyes.

"Do you intend to stop me, Sesshōmaru?" Kōji-sama asked wearily.

Sesshōmaru stared impassively at his father for a long, tense moment, assessing his injuries. He seemed to judge them and answered slowly, "I will not stand in your way."

The dog general's eyes returned to Kagome, who nodded resolutely. He sighed. "Then let us be off."

Kagome left, riding on the back of the transformed Inu no Taishō, watching her mate stare after them. She was sure of it that time: for reasons she did not understand, betrayal was present in Sesshōmaru's eyes.

Kōji-sama ran furiously, his feet flying over the earth, through the woods. Kagome barely managed to cling to him. After an immeasurably long time, Kagome was suddenly dropped to the ground. Only her quick reflexes prevented her from sprawling. She landed deftly on her feet and watched as her father-in-law changed back to his human form.

She could see through a thin lining of trees remaining that a large, if somewhat antiquated, castle awaited, guarded by what seemed to be every man in the compound.

"Kagome," Inu no Taishō commanded, his voice coming urgently from behind her. "You must 'appear' to Izayoi. Make certain she's all right. I'll be with you as soon as I—" A woman's scream followed by a baby's piercing cry suddenly rent through the night's stillness, the sounds of which seemed to incite the dog general to near madness.

"Go," he hissed, his upper lip curling back in fury just as his son's had done not minutes before.

Kagome nodded and obediently vanished. She popped back into existence not a second later in what she had hoped to be the birthing room of the castle. It was, but it seemed Izayoi, in giving birth to a half-demon, was not good enough for the castle's birthing chambers. She had been relegated to her own bedroom. Kagome shook her head in disgust at humans' prejudices and tried again.

This time, when she reappeared, she was standing in the middle of a large, empty bedchamber. The only furnishings she could see were two cushions set beside a drawn curtain, through which a spear had been thrust. A baby's frantic cries came from behind that curtain, but of the mother she could hear nothing.

Frightened by what she might see, Kagome reached out a shaking hand and drew back the curtain. The body of Izayoi lay bloody and exhausted on her pallet, her face still screwed up in the pain of labor though her child appeared to have been set free of her womb by the spear. Growling in frustration to herself, Kagome closed her eyes and took a steadying breath. Now was her only chance. If someone realized something was wrong with Izayoi or that she had given birth, she would be discovered.

Still, she had no idea what she was doing. Something might go wrong.

She shook her head to herself. It was worth it to save this poor woman's life.

Taking another gulp of air that did nothing to calm her, she focused her mind to about ten minutes ago, to the time she was sure that Izayoi's visitor had stabbed her, when she had screamed. There shouldn't be too much risk in that, right? She had only been stabbed once... Kagome closed her eyes, laying out the scene in her mind. She imagined that the fallen noblewoman had had no idea that her guest was about to murder her, too distracted as she was in throes of labor.

Kagome crouched down behind a newly drawn curtain. No spear was in sight. The mother and now-unborn baby were fine. As she crouched at the lady's feet, a spear came through the curtain, and Izayoi, noticing Kagome for the first time, screamed in fright at the dark figure hovering over her.

Kagome thrust out both her arms, one to silence the mother, the other to let the blade slice. It cut across the top of arm, making a sickening squelching noise that no doubt satisfied the "Takemaru of Setsuna" murderer that his "love" was dead. He left the room. Kagome, hissing between her teeth at the pain, drew her arm to her chest and wrapped it in a piece of shredded kimono. She felt her heart pound against her chest in acute relief that nothing had gone astray.

"Who are you?" Lady Izayoi breathed frantically, "Why are you here?"

"I am your love's daughter-in-law, Kagome," Kagome informed her hurriedly. "Now, we must deliver the baby fast. Push for me."

In the space of two grunts and one muttered curse, the baby fell from the womb and into Kagome's hands. She didn't even look at it, merely handing it to its mother to clean with the bedsheets. Its screams were echoing around the room, giving her a piercing headache.

Just then, an enormous explosion sounded, and Izayoi jumped in fright. Kagome laid a soothing hand on her shoulder and gestured for silence.

"WIND SCAR!" came the cry of her Inu-papa, followed by another explosion and burst of light. Many men's pained and terrified screams came after. Yet another blast, followed by yet more screams.

"He is come," Izayoi whispered, a blissful, loving light suddenly shining out of her face. Kagome shushed her impatiently.

"IZAYOI!" came Inu no Taisho's cry. "KAGOME!"

Kagome started to call back their location, before that Takemaru's voice interrupted her.

"At last, you've come, demon. A little late, though."

"What?"

"Lady Izayoi is beyond your reach now. I dispatched her myself."

Beside her, Kagome heard the new mother gasp. There was silence before a pained cry was heard and then the Inu no Taishō was bursting through the door, calling, "Izayoi! Kagome!"

"SET THE MANSION AFIRE!" came the order from the deranged soldier. "WITH THAT DEMON AND EVERYONE INSIDE, BURN IT TO THE GROUND!"

Flaming arrows obediently struck the walls and ceiling, setting the entire room ablaze in seconds. Ignoring the terror that suddenly seized both women, Kōji-sama crossed the room in three long strides and covered his life-mate with a red haori and Kagome with a matching red hakama that she had never seen before. The dog general then extracted from behind his armor yet another swatch of cloth: a white kosode, obviously part of this strange little outfit he had stashed away, and swaddled his newborn son in it.

He handed off the baby Kagome, who tried to shush its screaming as her father-in-law hurried his life-mate to her feet. The flames were spreading rapidly, aided no doubt by yet more arrows. The entire complex must have been ablaze by now. Kagome felt the sweat rolling off her skin.

"Go!" the Inu no Taishō commanded, grabbing Kagome's arm and pushing her and Izayoi towards the only door left to their room that hadn't been over taken by flames. As they hastened to obey him, the crazed man who had attempted to kill Izayoi himself appeared in the doorway, missing an arm and panting heavily. Kagome had to wonder what the hell his problem was: it wasn't as if having a half-demon baby had been the cause of his ire. Kagome thought back to his sedate words before he'd slit her arm: he'd been confessing his supposed love to Lady Izayoi. Now it made sense.

Kōji-sama, wounded and breathing shakily himself, stood and faced off his new opponent. He drew the sword tied over his right shoulder, which Kagome had never seen him wield before. She'd witnessed Tetsusaiga's awesome power, she'd even been witness to Tenseiga in its glory. But she'd never—not even in the heat of the intense battle in the last few days—had she seen him draw _this_ sword. Kagome instantly knew things were bad. She handed off the wailing baby to its mother and went to stand beside her second father.

"Kō—"

"Go," he interrupted her, "before this entire building collapses about your ears." When he sensed that Kagome had no intention of leaving him, he sighed and said, "Please, Kagome. If you feel you owe me anything in return for what I have done for you, pay your debt now. Take care of my son and his mother. Make sure they live long and well. Please."

Kagome looked back at the terrified woman, trying with all the awkwardness of a new mother to calm her baby. She nodded. "I'll protect them with my life. I swear it."

She took a few halting steps backwards, reluctant to just leave her inu-papa to face this threat alone.

"Inuyasha," the dog general suddenly announced, seemingly at random.

Kagome blinked and Takemaru snapped, "What was that?"

Kōji-sama turned back to his life-mate and daughter-in-law, but his eyes skipped over them, coming to rest sadly on his son. "The child's name shall be Inuyasha."

"Inuyasha..." Lady Izayoi repeated, gazing at her son.

"Now GO!"

Fighting tears, Kagome took Izayoi's hand and pulled her from the room, both of them clinging to the robes Kōji-sama had covered them all in. She barely managed to lead the lady and her bastard child out of the complex before the entire building collapsed.

Having no other choice, Kagome held tight to Izayoi and 'appeared' to her home with Sesshōmaru. She numbly led the pair of bedraggled and bloody survivors to a guest house she knew was empty, and informed Izayoi that it would be hers and her son's.

Then she walked slowly back to her own bedchamber and sank onto her pallet. She did not cry. Strangely, she found she _couldn't_ cry. Too much had happened too quickly. Nothing was making sense for her, and she was in a state of shock. No wonder Inu-papa had been so gray and drawn these last few weeks. He'd been worried about his new child and the life-mate he could not live without giving birth to it.

_Inuyasha_...

It was clear what the dog general's thought processes had been behind that name. "Inu" for _dog_, and "yasha" for _spirit_. In his own way, he was telling his younger son that, even though he was gone physically, he would always be there for his mother and him. He had died for them. What kind of burden must that be for Izayoi, to know that someone had given up their life for you?

Only then, at the thought of his life ending—of him never again smiling proudly at her—of him never lecturing her again over her recklessness—of the hole his absence left—did she start to cry. She sobbed and screamed out her pain, but it didn't lessen the ache in her chest. She kicked and punched at her bed at the unfairness of life, but it didn't help her to expend her anger at the situation.

"Chichi-ue is dead, isn't he?"

Kagome's head shot up off the bed, her red-rimmed electric green eyes finding her mate's in the darkness of their room.

She snapped, "Yes, he is. And his death might have been prevented if you'd only come."

Sesshōmaru, his amber eyes glowing calmly in the moonlight, shook his head resolutely. "My presence could not have changed fate. There were too many obstacles against him: a jealous man, injuries beyond healing, and an army stood to fight him. Brave as you were to go with him, it was also very foolish. You could have been killed, too. Just look at your arm; it could have gone so much worse."

Kagome stared in silence for a long moment before demanding, her voice near a shriek, "Are you serious? Do you even hear yourself, Sesshōmaru? Your father is _dead_!" Her voice broke, tears gathering in her eyes once more. "Do you even care?"

"To be frank, I am not certain I do. He was a terrific leader and powerful yōkai. His death was his choice, and he went the way he wanted to go out."

"But...?"

"_But_," he sighed, looking away, "I do not believe I ever loved him. I am not certain I have _ever_ loved... before you, of course. You make me feel insane. I need to be near you. If anything were to happen to you, I honestly do not know what I would do. But anyone else... well, to a certain extent, they feel expendable."

Kagome shook her head. In this one instance, she wouldn't even try to understand him. She couldn't stomach the thought. Kōji-sama, her Inu-papa, was dead, and his own son thought it didn't matter?

"I'm going to see Lady Izayoi and the baby," she muttered to her feet, unable to look him in the eye, as she rose from the bed and walked out of the room. He didn't try to stop her and for that she was grateful.

On her way down the halls, she vaguely wondered if Sesshōmaru would object to harboring his father's former mistress and bastard child. He'd made his opinion of the two clear enough already. But they had nowhere else to go... No, Kagome decided, if it came to a fight between the two of them, she would choose the baby and his mother. She'd sworn to Kōji-sama that she would take care of them no matter what. Even if that cost her her love.

She reached the correct fusuma and called gently through them, "Lady Izayoi?"

There was a long pause before the weary woman slid open the doors, looking quite the worse for wear. Her eyes were red and swollen, her cheeks had blotches of red, and her long, flowing hair was in disarray. Behind her in the room, Kagome could see the infant laying on its stomach, occasionally lifting its head for a quick look around before it was too tired and flopped back down. She was impressed the baby could do that already. Human babies were too weak to lift their own heads for weeks after birth.

Kagome smiled sadly at the new mother. "I suppose it's a pointless question, but how are you doing? Is there anything I can get for you? This is your home now, so don't hesitate to command the servants. I shall let them now that you are an honored, permanent guest and are to be obeyed."

Lady Izayoi shook her head slowly, murmuring, "Thank you, Kagome. If I live a hundred years, I cannot repay the debt I owe you."

"Think nothing of it," Kagome denied, before adding, "May I see the baby? Inuyasha?"

At the name, Kagome saw Izayoi's eyes fill with tears.

Kagome bit her lip, hesitating entering the room, before sighing. "You know what?" she announced. Izayoi looked at her miserably. "Why don't you take a day off? Explore your new home, accustom yourself to the servants. Take a nap. Whatever you like. I shall care for the baby myself." At the lady's suddenly worried look, Kagome laughed as reassuringly as she could and added, "Have no fear, I am good with children. I love babies, especially."

Eventually, the lady nodded, offered her thanks once more, and fled the room—most likely to find a private spot to divulge herself of her grief. Kagome stared after her sadly for a long moment before turning back to the son of her father-figure.

He looked very much like the Inu no Taishō. Of course, most inu-yōkai in this land looked the same. The same silver hair, the same amber eyes. This child, though, had extremely sharpened canine teeth already coming through his gums, and two pointed, furry dog-like ears on the top of his head. Kōji-sama and Sesshōmaru wore human disguises though they actually were immense dogs, and bore neither of these traits in their mortal guises. She supposed this was the mark of the baby's half-demon heritage.

Sighing, she sat down next to the baby and picked him up into her lap. He squealed in angry protest, but she ignored him, sitting him up against her bent knees and looking into his eyes. He stared back foggily, as though he were having trouble focusing. She guessed he probably was. Didn't babies have poor vision for their first few days of life?

"Hello, Inuyasha," she cooed, brushing the baby's short silver hair out of his eyes. He stared at her, trying to force his big eyes to track her. "I'm your sister, Kagome." She sighed again and gave him a small smile. "One day, I'll tell you all about your father. How he saved me when I was your age and gave me everything a father could have... He named you, you know. See? You're special already. 'Inuyasha,' means 'dog-spirit,' because you've got your papa's spirit inside you. He'll live on inside you and your brother..." She angrily scrubbed away the tears that had begun to fall again. "Your brother will come around, I promise. He's a good person, he's just been raised to separate himself from emotion. Once he sees you as a person, not a 'half-breed,' you'll see." She tapped his nose and the baby tried to bite her finger. She giggled. "Feisty one, aren't you? You'll need that. Maybe not right away, because I'll protect you, but when you're a man, you'll have to protect yourself. Who knows? You might even have a family to look after for yourself by then... For now, I'm here. You and your mama are safe with me. I swore to protect you both. I'll keep that promise. Forever."


	10. Chapter Nine

_Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi_

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

Time continued to march on, oblivious to the pain of those it passed. Kagome marveled at the amount of time that had gone by. Before she knew it, Inuyasha was twenty years old—still looking no more than a toddler to a human, but he was learning fast.

She had become something like Inuyasha's second mother, since Izayoi had yet to recover from her grief and shock at losing her life-mate. The woman could barely stand to rise and get dressed in the morning, she would only eat when forced, and she never spoke, except soft murmurs to her son. She also never left her room. As the years passed, Kagome had stopped trying to involve her in present affairs. Izayoi was left to herself, aging more rapidly than any in the castle, which only seemed to add to her grief.

It's easy to imagine how quickly Inuyasha tired of that one room. Even at the physical age of two, he wanted to walk around, he wanted to explore and be free. Since his mother wouldn't leave the room to do these things with him, the task fell to Kagome to care for him outside of that room. She would take him for long walks around the property, telling him about each herb and plant she found and what it could do for the body, even though she knew he would likely never remember these things. She taught him to swim, and would watch as he happily flopped around in the pond outside he and his mother's apartment. She dressed him in the kimono his father had left him: the red haori and hakama, and the plain white kosode. Oddly enough, once placed on him, it seemed the clothes bonded to his yōki. They grew and shrank as he did, always fitting him perfectly no matter his size. Perhaps that was why the Inu no Taishō had left them to him.

Kagome was still deeply hurt about her Inu-papa's death, all the more so because of her mate's apparent disinterest in the matter. His father had died in true warrior fashion, he claimed, what else could he ask for? Sesshōmaru and Kagome had long since made up, and were back to sharing a room—_when he's home_, Kagome always thought bitterly.

About fifteen years after Inu no Taishō's death, Sesshōmaru had gone to visit the collapsed and disintegrated rubble that had become his father's grave. But neither the dog general's body nor his swords were there. Sesshōmaru knew he had been left Tenseiga, and where to find it. Sōunga and Tetsusaiga, however, were a mystery. As was the disappearance of his father's remains. Nothing had been touched since the castle's collapse, that much had been clear. And yet, he was gone.

At first, Kagome had entertained the wild hope that her Inu-papa had somehow survived. But when Sesshōmaru found his inheritance (Tenseiga and a grotesque staff Kagome had never seen before) behind a waterfall, where Kōji-sama had told him that all he was to receive upon his death were to be found, Kagome knew that wasn't the case. Adding further pain to the disappointment, Sesshōmaru had grown agitated and restless, and frequently left her for periods of time to search for his father's remains and the Tetsusaiga he coveted so much. When together, their bond was as strong as ever. It just seemed that Kagome's husband simply couldn't stand the thought of losing the magnificent blade his father had once wielded.

Kagome used her time wisely, practicing and honing her specific kami talent of time, and raising Inuyasha. She was left to her own devices on the topic of her specific skills, since her uncle, after finding her one month after the final battle, had claimed she was "ready enough" to be on her own. Kagome bitterly thought this was just his excuse, since he was clearly missing his home and his own duties. Still, she had become quite proficient at time travel. She felt she had discovered the secret of it: she merely had to pinpoint an exact moment in time, beyond a shadow of a doubt, when something had happened, and she arrived there. Izayoi's death's reversal had given her the idea. She had stopped practicing as much in these last two or three years, believing herself to be master of time in a sense.

It was on one of her walks with Inuyasha that two incredible events happened.

The first was almost expected. Since Inuyasha and his mother had been brought to Kagome and Sesshōmaru's castle, the inu-daiyōkai that had fled the Inu no Taishō's destroyed complex to live with them had shunned the pair. Inuyasha was always ignored and turned out on the streets no matter where he went or what Kagome said. Eventually, she started ignoring the dog demons, who were quite devoted to her as their savior, in revenge.

On this day, the children were out playing with a ball. When they saw Inuyasha, their instincts to bully not only a baby younger than themselves, but also a "half-breed" seemed to be too much for them to withstand.

"If it ain't the little mutt!"

"Ssh, Taku, you don't want the little mucksnipe to get all upset and start crying."

"Are you gonna cry, little baby? Gonna go cry to your big, important bitch there?"

Kagome gasped. Where in the world had these children heard such language? Then she shook her head sadly. Where else? Their bigoted parents.

"You thut up!" Inuyasha declared in his current lisp that Kagome found adorable. "Leave my muther awone!"

Kagome felt herself hesitate in confusion as she firmly dispersed the children with harsh reprimands. Who had said anything about Inuyasha's mother? He was just past two years old to human eyes, but he could speak and understand words almost readily. He rarely spoke, however, and when he did, he very seldom used direct names. This was perhaps the first time Kagome had even heard him say the word "mother." He was still angry and sullen when she went back to him, his arms crossed over his chest and his face dark.

"All you all right, Inuyasha?"

He shook his head roughly. "Not me. You all wight, Muther?"

Kagome's jaw dropped. She wanted to correct him. Of course she wasn't his mother! But then she hesitated. What harm would it do? Besides, this boy had so many reasons to be made fun of by the surrounding children here. An insaney depressed mother only added to that. If he wanted to believe Kagome was his mother, what difference would it make except to protect him from a few more insults?

And so she said nothing, merely nodded, and took him back inside.

* * *

One day, as Kagome was out practicing her time manipulations for the first time in several years, she heard a strange sound break through the silence she was accustomed to. It was just a snapping of a twig, not enough to frighten her, or even give her a sense of direction as to where it came from, but it was enough to distract her. At a most inopportune time.

She blinked, suddenly standing in an unfamiliar landscape. Where she had once been in the middle of the dense forest surrounding her home, she was now standing on the street of a town. A small village to be exact, but it was densely, happily populated. By _humans_.

Kagome felt herself start to hyperventilate, and tried to calm herself. This was exactly what Inu-papa had warned her against: ending up in some unknown time with no idea how to get back!

"Miko! Oh, thank the kami, miko, you've come!"

Kagome turned, arching an eyebrow in a very Sesshōmaru-esque manner. It was lucky she'd donned her old priestess garb today. Usually she wore the insanely fine kimonos that her mate brought home to annoy her with, knowing that she hated the frippery.

"What is the matter?" she asked a distraught woman that had run from her house out into the road to her. It seemed like a lot of work for the rather overweight woman, who panted harshly.

"You—haven't—heard?" the woman said around her breaths, before shaking her head. "No matter. Please—you must help them. There's a—house—on the outskirts of the village—a young couple lived there with their—daughter—but the man died in an accident!" She seemed to be catching her breath. She hacked out a disgusting cough that had Kagome automatically flinching away before she realized how rude she would come off. Luckily, the woman hadn't noticed. "There's a dreadful smell coming out of the house now," she finally finished, wheezing. "The woman was with child—we think she might have died in labor. Please, the little girl hasn't been seen since. She might be in there with that smell. She might be kidnapped. You must help, priestess, please!"

"Calm yourself," Kagome said, gently removing the lady's hands from her haori. "I will do all that I can. But first—are _you_ all right? That was a nasty cough I just heard."

The woman shook her head. "'Tis nothing. Please, help the child!"

Kagome nodded and reluctantly asked and received the directions to this supposed house. Just as the woman had said, on the outskirts of the village lay a small hut, very modest compared to the others, but it seemed like it had once been a happy home. Now the fields were overgrown, the boards of the hut falling or chipping in some places. Kagome wasn't fifteen feet away when the smell hit her. She coughed and gagged. Something had certainly died in that house.

Somehow, she made herself get closer. When she reached the door, she removed the sleeve of her haori from her face and called breathlessly, "Hello? Is anyone in here?"

A startled, high-pitched gasp followed by a scuffling noise was her answer. Seconds later, a baby's agonized wailing filled the room.

"No, shh, please, sister," a little girl's voice whispered from the darkness of the hut. Kagome couldn't see the child, but she could hear the direction it came from and headed that way.

"I won't hurt you," Kagome called out. "I'm a miko. I was asked to help you."

The child scoffed derisively. Kagome had never heard such bitterness from such a young child before. "Where was your 'help' when my father lay dying? Or when my poor mother bled out in labor? We didn't have your help then, and we certainly don't want it now!"

"Please," Kagome said, lowering her voice to a more soothing pitch. "I can help you. You need only tell me where you are. Who are you, honey?"

There was a slight pause before the bell-like voice replied, "...Kikyo."

"Are you alone, Kikyo?" Kagome pressed, following the voice when it sounded. It was so dark in this hut. There were no windows built in, the only light streamed in through the patches of broken thatching or wood on the walls.

"...No..."

"Is there a baby with you?"

The voice came quicker this time, sharply demanding, "Why do you want to know?"

"I want to help you, Kikyo, just like I said. I'll help you in whatever way I can."

The voice sneered, "Which is just a fancy way of saying you won't help me at all. You'll probably take me and my sister out of here and dump us in one of those 'orphanages.' I've heard of what they do to kids there, especially the girls. You can't make us go there! I won't let you!"

Kagome had reached the child, and Kikyo knew it. There was a scuffle as she slid herself back into a corner, clutching the baby, who had taken up its wails again at the movement. Knowing infants' cries as she did from Inuyasha, Kagome knew that baby was hurting. Badly. It was probably slowly starving to death, the poor thing.

Kagome sat down on the filthy floor without a wince, and stared into the dark corner where the little girl had tried to hide herself.

"Kikyo, I am a kami and a miko. My name is Kagome, and my word is my life. If I give it, you can be sure I'll keep it. I give it to you now when I say that I will not let any harm come to you or your sister. Do you believe me?"

"...Yes."

Kagome smiled, not sure if the child could see her or not. "I'm glad. Will you come with me now? This house isn't fit to live in anymore. I can help you find somewhere better."

"Not an 'orphanage'?"

"Not if that's what you don't want."

"...All right."

The child hesitantly put her hand into Kagome's and allowed herself to be led out of the hut, carrying her infant sister in his arms. The babe was naked, its only protection being an old kosode wrapped around her in tattered strips.

Out in the sunlight, Kagome could see the two of them better. Kikyo was a tall girl, almost chest height to Kagome, with long black hair and deep brown eyes. Her skin was of unknown color, as it was covered almost entirely in filth. The infant was no better. Kagome sent out her second sight and located a river. She followed it in her mind's eye until she spotted a small, shallow pool, and then memorized the way to get there from her current position.

She opened her eyes again and smiled comfortingly at the bemused, frightened child who was trying to act so tough.

"I think I need a bath after all that," she said gently. "What about you?"

The girl's nose wrinkled in distaste. "What's a bath?"

Kagome barely refrained from throwing up a disbelieving cry to the heavens.

* * *

A few hours later, all three suitably cleaned, Kagome went into town and hoped the money she had on her would still have value in this time. Luckily, it turned out that the ancient clerk she wanted to purchase the clothes from recognized her coins as "foreign money" and took them greedily, thinking he could swindle someone else out of their money with them.

Carrying the infant Kikyo called Kaede in her arms as they walked the path away from Kikyo's village, Kagome asked, "How old are you, Kikyo?"

"Ten summers," the child responded proudly.

"Quite a big girl," Kagome mused. It was difficult to think of a place to put the children for safekeeping. The only thought that ran through her mind was to take them to a temple, just as Inu-papa had done for her. But Kikyo wasn't a witless infant. She had to know where she'd be living, and what she'd be undertaking. What if she didn't want the life of a miko?

"Kikyo," Kagome began uncertainly, "would you like to become like me? A priestess, that is?"

Kikyo met her gaze shrewdly. "What would I have to do?"

"Well, you would protect those that are weaker than you. You would learn to read and write and cast spells. Do you have any weapons training?"

"My pa taught me how to shoot a bow and arrow..."

Kagome beamed. "You could use that, if you like. Learn how to put your spiritual powers through your weapons."

Kikyo narrowed her eyes up at her new friend. "What if I don't have any spiritual powers, Kagome-sama?"

Kagome shook her head in immediate dismissal of that. "Like senses like, darling," she informed the girl, hitching the infant further into her arm. "I can feel your powers. They're... extraordinary, especially for someone wholly untrained. You would make a fine priestess."

"And I would be like you?"

"If you wanted to be." Kagome laughed. "Personally, though, I like Kikyo. Nobody needs another Kagome running around."

Kikyo smiled, somewhat reluctantly. She was frightened again, Kagome could tell, but trying to hide it valiantly. Kagome sighed and knelt down beside the girl, tugging her arm to halt her.

"Kikyo, being a priestess is not just fighting and protecting. It's also learning to heal, to nurse. You will study the different ways people get hurt, and you will learn to make them better again with herbs and roots. You will know when to fight, and when to run. Everyone will respect you and that's a big responsibility in and of itself."

Kikyo nodded slowly. "That might not be so bad," she offered tentatively.

Kagome smiled. "It won't be very easy, though, dear. I don't want to force you into something."

The little girl met her eyes for a long time before declaring, "I need to be able to protect my sister. This is the best way. I want this."

"Are you sure?" Kagome pressed, searching the girl's brown eyes. She nodded firmly.

Kagome beamed and took the girl's hand. "Come, then. I shall take you to my old temple." ..._If it still stands in this time._

* * *

As it turned out, the miko's old temple _did_ still stand, and Kikyo and her sister were accepted without hesitation. It never ceased to amaze Kagome how fast humans responded to needy young of their own kind, but could so easily turn their backs on the needy young of another.

Kikyo was reluctant to let Kagome leave her. She had grown used to Kagome, and trusted her more than anyone else in the world at the moment.

"Will you come back?" she asked fretfully, walking with Kagome part of the way back down the road. She couldn't stray far, but her new instructors had allowed her a few minutes to say farewell.

Kagome sighed. She didn't even know if she _could_ leave, what with the way she had come here. This was a huge blow to her ego.

"Of course," she replied easily. She knelt down beside the girl so that her face was below hers. "Tell you what, in three days' time, I want you to go out to that big tree we saw coming in, in the meadow, do you remember?" The girl nodded. "I want you to go out to that tree and scratch off a little piece of bark. When you do that, I'll come."

Kikyo's face scrunched up in confusion. "But why do I have to—?"

Kagome shook her head, interrupting, "Do you trust me, Kikyo?" A nod. "Then do as I say, and I will be there." Kagome leaned forward and pressed a short kiss to the top of Kikyo's head before bidding her farewell and walking away.

She wanted to be a good distance away from the child, who was still watching her, before she attempted to return to her own time. If she _could_, that was. She thought back to herself practicing under the cover of the trees in her own time and home. Perhaps she could remember the wildlife doing something in that moment that would allow her to return.

At that thought, the memory of a twig snapping returned to her mind. She thought of that sound, a sharp break in the meditative silence that she was used to practicing in, and how she had almost turned to see who was coming to her. It worked. Before she knew it, she was standing almost exactly where she had been not a day before, practicing her skills.

The sound had been made by a booted foot, it seemed, and the owner was still standing there, waiting with wary, slightly frustrated eyes. Sesshōmaru still didn't fully trust her capabilities as a kami, and was always incredibly nervous when she left. But Kagome knew it was out of love, and she was delighted that he was back from yet another of his excursions to find the Tetsusaiga.

As she turned on her heel and went to him, half of her mind was still on the little girl she had left. She decided then and there that she _would_ go back and see that Kikyo girl. There was just something about her that she couldn't ignore.


	11. Chapter Ten

_Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi_

**I also apologize for the long-winded, kind of boring intro to this chapter. I had a few reviews a while back that wondered if Kagome and Sesshoumaru's relationship was headed for trouble. I'm not gonna lie, this is a rough patch for them. You all can see here the beginnings of manga canon, and you all remember how canon Sesshoumaru behaved. Anyway, long story short, I felt that I had to explain the status of their relationship just to clear the air. Sorry for the boring, but I felt it had to be done. They're not going to "break up," and they're not drifting apart, but they are definitely going through a somewhat "dry spell" as many couples who have been together for a long time will do.**

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

Something had changed in Sesshōmaru following his father's death, but it had not been in ways Kagome would have expected. Although she'd been surprised to see his actual reaction to the dog general's demise, looking back, she should have anticipated no less. Her mate had told her himself: he had been essentially estranged from both of his parents for so many decades prior. He'd respected his father, looked up to him even, but he did not feel a great love for him. Kagome felt a bit foolish at having expected him to openly grieve as she had. No, hindsight had shown her that her mate had only been true to himself, and had acted no less.

What she _hadn't_ foreseen was his obsession with his father's favorite sword, the Tetsusaiga. She'd waited for him for days on end when he went away to retrieve his inheritance from his father, and had waited even longer after his return to her for him to become himself again. All he thought of was his father's legacy, and how he felt he had been overlooked in favor of his "half-breed" brother. It had taken all of Kagome's considerable influence over him to make Sesshōmaru even acknowledge the boy as his brother.

While their love was as strong as ever—indeed, Sesshōmaru often returned to her despite his own conscious wishes just to satisfy the needs of their intense bond—Kagome did not find it as easy as she once had to converse with her husband and mate. She was completely consumed with Inuyasha's upbringing and protection from petty inu-yōkai, and he was overwrought with the stress of his longing for Tetsusaiga. To an extent, she understood his suffering. Inuyasha, while just as much Inu no Taishō's son, had never known his father as Sesshōmaru had. In a strange way, Sesshōmaru's jealousy and betrayal was justified. She could understand his yearning to take possession of Tetsusaiga in order to prove his worth in his father's eyes and even, perhaps, to surpass him.

What she could not—_would_ not—understand was how he seemed to put every other aspect of his life on hold while he searched for the damned thing.

Kagome was left for days to run their palace and home alone. Not that this bothered her greatly, but she did miss him at night when she laid down in their large, empty bed. When he did return to her, he was distracted and eager to be off again.

So many times, he would ask her to come with him. He would never beg, that would be beneath him, but she saw the plea in his eyes, asking her to understand his warring feelings. He needed to be near her at all times—part of him was insane with worry over her when she was out of his sight—but he also yearned for the Tetsusaiga, and could not give up the quest for it. And she did understand—she needed him just as much. But Inuyasha needed a stable home. He was already prone to volatility, what would becoming nomadic in the wilderness do to him?

And so she denied his request, his silent plea, and he would leave her for another few days.

Coincidentally, this last parting had been greeted with almost relief on Kagome's end. For the last few weeks, she'd been driven to distraction with thoughts of the little human girl, Kikyo, from the future. How _far_ in the future, she had no idea yet. Her fateful, accidental trip allowing her to meet the girl had left her no time to look around and get her bearings. But something deep within her just _knew_ that that girl was important, and she had to try and return to see her no matter what.

After spending the morning with Inuyasha as normal, she left him in the questionable safety of his true mother and went back to her private sanctuary, the forest, to think. She'd asked Kikyo to scratch the bark off a specific tree, hoping against hope that she would have only done so once in her life. That was the trick to her time travel, after all: she had to pinpoint the _exact_ moment she wished to travel to. It merely made her travels easier if she knew that the moment she sought had definitively happened only once.

She pictured it in her mind, the tiny hand with its chipped, dirty nails drawing one single line of stripped bark away from the tree trunk. She could see flecks of dead, dried bark in her mind's eye, falling and carried away on the light breeze.

Kagome opened her eyes. Before her was the dirt trail, hardly noticeable against the grass and spares trees surrounding it. One tree in particular stood at the entrance to the trail. Taller and wider than all the others by at least three scores, it was a monumental landmark. The small girl, trying so hard to be tall and proud, stood at its trunk, staring at Kagome with wide brown eyes. The half-goddess could only imagine what she'd seen. She'd never been on the spectator's end of 'appearing.'

"Kagome-sama!" the girl cried, breaking free of her mesmerism. "You came!"

"I gave you my word, didn't I?" Kagome returned, smiling as she bent at the waist to hug the little girl. "How fares your sister?"

To her surprise, the little girl blushed. "The miko say she will live, but that it was a close thing. They said she was starving." Within a moment, the little girl was transformed again, this time to earnest pleading as she cried, "I swear I didn't know! I would never have let her suffer like that!"

"I know, honey, I know," Kagome comforted. "And she's going to be fine, thanks to you bringing her here. It's all better now. How are your studies coming along? Have you learned much in the days since we last spoke?"

"Yes!" The girl was extremely proud of her new knowledge, and Kagome spent the next few minutes listening to a recital of nearly all the lessons Kikyo had undertaken: the basics of feeling her own reiki and calling it up at will, advanced studies of archery, an introduction into the human body and its functions, and a few ways to heal minor injuries.

"I'm very impressed, Kikyo," Kagome said honestly, when the child had finally exhausted her supply of lessons. "To have learned so much in such a short time—you'll be a terrific miko, I'm sure."

Kikyo beamed, even while she blushed under the praise.

"Are you still sure this is what you want, Kikyo?" Kagome was unable to stop herself from asking. Being a priestess, a miko, was not an easy life. At her young age, Kikyo would have no idea what she was giving up. A chance at a husband, a family. Your life was spent in the servitude of others at all times. "You can still change your mind."

"No," Kikyo responded, before detailing bluntly, "this is the only way to protect my sister. I may not like it, but I'll become strong for her."

Kagome sighed. Knowing that, there was no way she could think of Kikyo's choice as the right one. She was choosing to become a miko for the right reasons, yes, but it was still the wrong decision. Or, at least, it would be. But Kagome could not change the little girl's mind, of that she was sure. It was funny, but she could almost see something of Inuyasha's stubbornness in the set of Kikyo's mouth as she gave her answer. There would be no swaying her.

"Then come with me," the kami returned resignedly. "I think I have a trick that may help you in the future. Something that not even your skilled teachers may know."

"Really?" Eagerly, the little girl followed where the older priestess led, nearly tripping over her own gangling limbs in her haste. "What are we going to learn, Kagome-sama? More fighting? Are you going to show me how to channel my reiki into my weapons? The priestesses in the shrine told me that was possible, but that they wouldn't show me how until I was older. I don't think that's fair of them."

"No, they're right," Kagome replied, hiding her surprise. The girl had never been so talkative before! Perhaps the path of a priestess really did appeal to her in its entirety. "Channeling reiki into an object is very difficult. It requires a lot of concentration and skill. But I have no doubt you'll be learning it soon enough; you've shown me time and again how quickly you learn." Kikyo blushed, so deeply flustered by the praise that she tripped over a raised tree root and nearly fell.

"No," Kagome repeated, waiting for the girl to right herself before once more leading her on. She had no idea where they were going, only that they must be deeper into the woods so as not to alarm any humans with any potential accidents. "I won't show you how to fight with your reiki. I'm going to show you how to heal with it."

"Heal with reiki?" the girl repeated blankly. "But... I didn't think that was possible. That's what herbs and other plants are for, isn't it?"

"Plants and roots are certainly helpful," Kagome answered, eager to not undermine Kikyo's education at her old shrine. "They can ease pain and bring on sleep so as to let the sufferer rest and heal more quickly. Healing with reiki is certainly possible, but you must have a certain level of power to do it. I think that's why you haven't been told of its possibilities, Kikyo. Not many miko have such vast reiki as you or I, and I doubt they could learn to do this."

"But I can?" Kikyo asked, clearly perplexed. "I don't think I'm so powerful."

"But unfortunately, my dear, you are," Kagome responded. She had never felt such immense stores of raw power before, not even from some other kami. "I will warn you, using your reiki to heal will be extremely tiring. It will exhaust you faster than anything else, even using your power to fight. You must concentrate and find what needs healing, then stay focused while you fix everything up. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Kikyo answered promptly, then repeated obediently, "It's very exhausting to use my power to heal, so I must do it only in dire circumstances."

"Exactly," Kagome beamed, pleased with her protege. "Now, call up your power for me, but only bring it to the surface. Don't expend any."

The child did as asked, and Kagome felt the unpleasant buzz of someone else's power brushing against her own. She pushed down her own reacting reiki.

"Good," she praised. "Now, tell me what you think of when you feel this power surging within you."

Confused, Kikyo closed her eyes to focus her concentration inward. "Um," she offered hesitantly, "I feel... strong? No, more than that... I feel _excited_. I want to _do_ something. I want to fight or heal or _anything_, but I feel more than ready."

"Good," Kagome repeated. "Do you think you can hold your power where it is for a few more moments?"

"Yes."

"All right. Now I want you to force yourself to think of anything that causes you to feel great empathy, or compassion. Something that gives you an overwhelming desire to help others."

Kikyo opened her eyes to stare at Kagome, but her gaze seemed distant. Kagome noted that the flare of Kikyo's enormous power seemed to dim also.

"My mother," the child announced softly. "When my mother was trying to give birth, and all that came out was blood. She was in so much pain, but she couldn't do anything. _I_ couldn't do anything. I never wanted anything more than I wanted to help her then."

Kagome felt her heart sink with fresh sympathy and affection for this lost waif of a girl who had seen far too much at her young age.

"That's an excellent choice, Kikyo, and do you know why?" she asked softly. Kikyo's power died off completely as her focus sharpened only on Kagome. She shook her head, waiting for her explanation, mired down in the sadness of her thoughts.

"When you heal with reiki," the older miko explained, "you must concentrate not only on what you're healing, but also a thought or memory that makes you feel complete empathy for the person you're attempting to right. You need that compassion in order to turn your reiki from a weapon to a source of comfort. It will be incredibly difficult for you to master this, so I'll visit you when I can to help teach you. For now, I want you to practice using that memory. I want you to train yourself to channel your pain, your helplessness in that memory into a desire to help, to heal. Do you think you can do that?"

Kikyo nodded silently, her lovely dark eyes pensive and distant. Still, she said, "Yes, I like that. Then my mother won't have died for nothing. I can... I can use her memory to save other lives. I think she would have liked that."

Kagome laid a soft hand on the child's black head, giving her whatever small comfort she could. Kikyo didn't strike her as the kind of child who needed or even wanted physical comfort, so she didn't try to embrace her. Still, she felt the girl needed something. She had caused her to relive this pain, after all.

"I think that's enough for now," Kagome announced, noticing the child's anguish and knowing it would be some time before she could focus again properly. "I'll take you back to the temple now." Kagome rose gracefully to her feet, Kikyo slowly following suit, silent.

As they walked, Kagome tried to think of another task she could set Kikyo to that would allow her to effortlessly travel to see her again. She could use scratching the bark off the tree again, but there was that tiny risk that she would make a mistake, and travel to the wrong time Kikyo had scratched the bark off. It was a small chance, but one Kagome wasn't willing to risk. She wanted everything surrounding this child to progress flawlessly. She had a sense that this would be the only peaceful time of the girl's life. Something about her made Kagome think she was destined to be the people's servant, that she would exhaust herself daily seeing to their needs. But something else, something that tugged at her kami half, spoke of the girl's importance in the world. She was surely fated.

"Kikyo," she finally said as they neared the trail leading back to the temple, "you know how I asked you to scratch some bark from that big old tree?"

"Yes."

"This time, I want you to stay in your room. Make sure there is no one else around, my presence would surely scare the wits from them. When you want me to visit you again, when you feel certain you can hold your reiki conjured while feeling compassion, stay in your room and sing a song. Do you know any songs, Kikyo?"

The little girl smiled sardonically. "Kagome, Kagome," she sang in reply, laughing.

Kagome smiled, fighting back her surge of annoyance. She'd always hated that song and game. "That will do fine. Sing that song to yourself and I will be there."

"Why do you make me do these things?" Kikyo asked. "How do I conjure you by singing?"

"You won't be conjuring me," the halfling miko answered honestly. "When I will try to find you next, I need you to do something that you have never done before. And I assume you've never sung Kagome, Kagome aloud, alone to yourself?"

"No," Kikyo agreed, smirking.

"Then I will find you with ease."

"But where do you go that you need me to do something new in order to find me at all?" Kikyo pressed.

"That will be a story for another time. Here's the trail back to the temple. You can find your way from here?"

Kikyo nodded easily, glancing back in the direction of said temple. "I feel like I've barely seen you, and now you're leaving me again," she mumbled, somewhat petulantly.

"But I'll be back soon," Kagome promised. "I'm sorry I can't be with you always. I have a little boy who needs me just as much as you do."

"You have a son?" the little girl repeated, shocked. Having been inducted into the temple of miko, she knew that they were forbidden from every marrying and reproducing. At least, not without losing their powers.

"He may not be mine by blood, but yes, he is my son," the half-kami answered. "And I must go to him, for he is even younger than you and can't fare long without me. When you feel confident in your lesson, do as I've asked, and I'll be there."

"Yes, Kagome-sama. Thank you."

* * *

Kagome let many years pass before she thought of Kikyo again. She knew she couldn't invest too much in the child. Like all mortals, she would be gone before long. Still, it was hard to put her to the back of her mind. But, being the "mistress of time," she could afford to let such time pass. When she chose to visit Kikyo, it would still be at the exact moment the girl summoned her. She would never know that it hadn't been so immediate for Kagome.

Another decade passed, then another. Quietly, almost as though she had never been, Izayoi passed on as well at a very old age for mortals. Kagome couldn't help feeling miserable for the woman's life, but relieved and happy now that she had gone. She was with her love now, and she could finally let go of that all-consuming guilt she'd harbored since his death.

Inuyasha grew quickly, hardly noticing the absence of his biological mother. He was going to be tall when he was grown, Kagome guessed. At the age of forty-two, he looked barely four to the human eye. He still wasn't one for talking, but he had grown less averse to conversation with age. Kagome could often get him to chat with her in the quiet of the evening on her miniature island in the center of the palace grounds.

Even Sesshōmaru, despite his protests, had taken a small, passing interest in his upbringing. One day, as Kagome returned to their bedroom after putting Inuyasha to bed, he asked, seemingly without interest, "What are you teaching him?"

"Teaching?" Kagome responded blankly. "Why, not much. He's still so young. But he knows about useful plants and herbal remedies. Right now, my main focus is getting him to learn to talk more."

Her husband scoffed his derision. "Talk? What use is talk to a half-breed? He needs to learn to fight. He needs to learn of his yōkai heritage, to find his yōki and to be able to call it up at will. Otherwise, he will never survive."

"Why is fighting the only answer?" Kagome demanded, scandalized. She was an ardent believer of talk and reason being the chief problem solvers. "And who is he to be fighting, anyway? No one dares to confront him here."

"Not here, no," Sesshōmaru agreed, turning down the cover of their futon and preparing to get into bed. "But who is to say he will always be under your protection? One day, he will have to defend himself. If he doesn't start learning how to do that now, he doesn't stand a chance."

Kagome blinked back tears of frustration. "And how am I to teach him that?" she cried. "I am not a yōkai, Sesshōmaru. I don't have any yōki. I can't teach him any of those things. _You_ could, but you won't."

"Hn."

Nothing more was said of the matter. While her mate slept peacefully beside her, Kagome had lain awake that night, overwrought with new worries Sesshoumaru's observations had created.

* * *

The next day, Kagome awoke determined to see Kikyo again. She would put her worry over the human child to rest once and for all, and focus all of her attention on her little brother, her son in all but blood—where it should have been from the start. Sesshōmaru intensely disliked it when she used her ability. He still wasn't confident in her control of time, and he worried—in Kagome's mind, worried _too much_—that she would get lost in it, the one "place" he could never rescue her from.

But being married was all about compromise, wasn't it? She had promised him long ago that she would only travel through time when she was absolutely sure of her ability to get it right, and this time she was nothing if not that. She had told Kikyo to sing that silly song to herself, and the girl had told her that she had never done it before. There was no hesitation in Kagome's mind, no hitch in her planning. She was confident she could easily locate Kikyo through the swelling waves of time.

The only problem was how to get _back_. If Sesshōmaru disliked her traveling at all, he absolutely loathed her preferred method of pinpointing moments in time. It was downright shaky, he believed, her tenuous hold on time. How could she be sure that a person had done what she sought only once in their lives? What if she wound up with the person she was seeking, only twenty years off? She had to admit, it wasn't the best way to go about time travel, but she had yet to come up with a better method.

"Kagome," Sesshōmaru's voice, which had deepened in the time since she'd met him to an attractive baritone, interjected the silence. They had been seated together at the dining table, eating their midday meal, but that had long been cleared away. Sesshōmaru, not wanting to leave her so soon, had ordered his reports and paperwork brought to the table so he could work there. Left to her own devices, Kagome had drifted off in thought.

"Yes?" she asked. Knowing that he was probably about to announce another extended leave, she rose from her cushion on the floor to sit in his lap. She knew she was right about his intentions when, instead of griping about her "need of physical contact" he put his arms about her waist and held her there. He was always more open to touch when he was about to leave, as though he were storing up the physical memory of her for their time apart.

"I know what you are thinking," he announced instead, "and you're not entirely incorrect."

"And what does that mean?" she asked resignedly, sighing as she rested her head on his shoulder. "You're still going away again."

"Yes, but not for some time."

She lifted her head to meet his gaze. "Why?"

"I want you to do something for me first. I want you to try to find another way to travel through time. Your method of guessing and hoping sits ill with me, and you know it. _You_ should feel uneasy about using such uncertain means as well."

"I do, Sesshōmaru, you know I do," she groaned in exasperation, letting her head fall once more to his shoulder. How many times had they had this conversation? How many times must he drag her incompetence before her eyes? "But you also know that I _have_ tried. As far as I can tell, there _is_ no other way to do it."

"I don't think you have tried your hardest, though," her husband countered. "I know you have thought long and hard about how to more accurately pick out a moment in time, but I don't think you've examined all of your capabilities, all the different means you have of locating those specific points in time."

"Sesshōmaru..." The last thing she wanted to do was argue with him, but she was getting dangerously irritated. She _knew_ she'd exhausted every possible way to travel through time. How many hours, _days _even, had she dedicated to simply sitting around, lost in meditative silence as she pondered that very problem? She was sick of sitting around and thinking all the time. As little Kikyo had once said to her, she was positively thrumming with the desire to _do_, to _act_. It didn't matter what that action was, she was just tired of _thinking_ all the damned time.

Her husband, however, seemed the exact opposite. To her mind, he never tired of thinking. Everything he did was thought through and analyzed from at least ten different perspectives before he did it. Sometimes she wondered how he could even stand to rise out of bed in the morning without over-thinking _that_ simple action.

"Mother!" came a wild cry, interrupting their almost-argument.

While not yet in sight, Kagome could hear little feet pounding on the tatami as Inuyasha bounced and raced around, trying to find her.

"Mother?" Sesshōmaru repeated, raising that brow again. Kagome had forgotten that, having not spent nearly the amount of time around Inuyasha as she had, Sesshōmaru had never known that his little brother addressed his mate as such.

"Um... yeah," she answered hesitantly. "About that... It just sort of happened one day. He just started calling me it, and I haven't the heart to correct him. Think how the others pick on him already. If they and he knew that his true mother was Lady Izayoi, think what that would do to him."

"Moooootherrrrr! Mother, Mother, Mother, _Mother_!"

Ignoring the exuberant bellows, Sesshōmaru said, "And what of Izayoi herself? How would she feel with you usurping her?"

Kagome wilted, saddened at having to admit her secret thoughts out loud. "Sesshōmaru, Inuyasha began calling me 'mother' long before Izayoi passed. I... I don't think she even noticed. She rarely spoke, not to anyone. Not even Inuyasha. He visited her when I told him to, out of respect for me, but he hated it. She bewildered him."

"Hn."

While he hadn't accepted this change of titles, he hadn't rejected or forbidden it either. That was something, Kagome thought. With a last, gentle caress of her face, Sesshōmaru easily lifted and placed Kagome onto a cushion of her own before rising to his feet and gathering his papers. Kagome caught one of his clawed hands in her own before he could step away.

"You won't leave yet, will you? I'll see you again before you go?"

"I told you, mate: I'm not leaving again for some time. At least, not until you've truly and absolutely exhausted all other means of time travel. I don't trust you to not disappear while I'm away."

Barely suppressing a scream of pure frustration at his obstinance, Kagome nodded once, a tight, jerky movement of the sheerest understanding.

The pounding outside the room reached a climax of volume just before the rice paper door was flung aside and Inuyasha, much grown since Sesshōmaru had last seen him but still not waist high, came to a screeching halt at just who was in the company of his "mother."

"Oh," he said flatly, his grin faltering and his silver-furred ears drawing back as his golden eyes landed on Sesshōmaru's hand resting in Kagome's.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome scolded, releasing her mate's hand. "Where are your manners?"

Barely hiding his snarl of irritation, Inuyasha tipped his head in the furthest gesture of a humbling bow as he could stand and muttered to the ground, "Hello, Sesshōmaru-ani-ue."

Sesshōmaru said nothing in reply, but he was at least acknowledging the boy's presence by looking at him, which was more than Kagome had managed to get him to do in recent years.

"I shall speak again with you later," were his parting words, directed at Kagome. Knowing she could expect no more from him regarding Inuyasha, Kagome accepted this, and her mate left them alone.

"Why do you let him hang around you, Mother?" Inuyasha demanded almost as soon as he'd gone. "He's so..."

"Don't you finish that thought, young man," Kagome interrupted.

She had never told Inuyasha, though she thought he was beginning to suspect himself, that she and Sesshōmaru were mated. Inuyasha had known from birth that Sesshōmaru was his half-brother, but he had never known Kagome's relationship to him. Now that he believed her to be his mother, she couldn't bring herself to tell him of her marriage to his brother. It would be tantamount to telling him who his _real_ mother was, for if he knew she was really only his sister-in-law, he would easily figure out that she was not, in fact, the beloved mother he had known all his life.

"Sesshōmaru is your elder brother, and he protects you by having you live here."

Inuyasha snorted and muttered, "Not by choice. Asshole."

Kagome couldn't argue with that, however much she wished otherwise. She _could_, however, berate him for such language.

"Inuyasha!" she nearly shouted, scandalized. "Where did you ever hear such talk?"

Ears back in consternation and more than slight fear, the boy was quickly backpedaling. "Nowhere, Mother!" he cried fiercely. "I won't do it again!"

"See that you don't!"

* * *

Despite her mate's explicit wishes, Kagome made one more attempt to see Kikyo before she gave up and focused once more on the futile effort of a new way to traverse the waves of time. She set up a burning stick of incense to lay perpendicular on another, unlit stick. She would use the beacon of both sticks burning at the same time to guide herself back to this time. It was a fairly safe bet to make, she thought, because it was considered almost sacrilegious to not have incense burn parallel to one another. She would have never done this before, or again.

As she closed her eyes and pictured the girl singing softly, alone in a darkened, small room, a small epiphany seemed to loom near the edge of her senses. She couldn't grasp it, knowing that to lose focus on the image she had created could potentially thrust her into yet another unknown time. But it was still there, some niggling realization about her one and only way to travel time. Something about being a _picture _itself...

Annoyed, she shook her head as though to physically banish the thought, and opened her eyes to the small bedroom she had imagined. Kaede the infant was not in the room. She had been placed with one of the miko for her own safety and proper care. Kikyo still saw her frequently, though.

Said little girl had not yet noticed her presence. Facing the other way, looking out of her small window, Kikyo finished her song. "In the night of dawn, the crane and turtle slipped. Who is it in front of behind?"

Sighing, probably thinking that Kagome had not been able to find her after all, Kikyo turned from her window towards her futon. She stopped short, gasping, at the sight of Kagome kneeling across the room beside her closed door.

"Kagome-sama! You scared me!"

"Forgive me, Kikyo." Kagome smiled. "But I did tell you I'd come when you sang."

"But I thought you'd have to sneak in through the window or something..."

"No such thing," the older woman laughed. "Now, how fares your practice? Have you mastered feeling empathy from your memory? _While_ holding up your reiki?"

"Yes," Kikyo answered promptly. "I've been practicing for weeks. I think I've learned it."

"Good girl," Kagome responded. "Unfortunately, the rest of the lesson must wait until you've learned enough about the human body to understand how to heal it."

"Well, the miko have been teaching me about legs. They said leg injuries are the most common, so they thought to start there. I know where all the muscles and bones in the legs are."

"Do you know how they are supposed to move, what their individual functions are?"

"...I think so."

Kagome smiled kindly and said, "Perhaps a demonstration would be in order. Hand me one of your arrows?"

Wide-eyed, Kikyo wordlessly turned and retrieved an arrow from her quiver, and passed it to her teacher.

"Don't worry about what I'm going to do," Kagome instructed her first. "I'll heal it in but a moment. I just want you to watch and learn what I do."

"Yes, Kagome-sama."

Satisfied with the girl's obedience, Kagome lifted the ankle of her hakama and pressed the arrow head to soft skin at the back of her shin, dragging a short, red line there. Despite her warning, Kikyo gasped at the sight of her teacher purposefully hurting herself.

"Now, that's a shallow cut, correct?" Kagome prompted, breaking the child free of her horror. "What do you think was broken when I made the cut? Did I hit muscle?"

Kikyo leaned close, attempting to see without touching. Kagome urged her to examine with her fingers, but to be gentle.

"With a real patient, you cannot always look and tell what their injuries may be," she explained. "You will have to feel for them, and it will hurt your patient. So practice now, being gentle but quick and thorough. Don't worry, you won't hurt me."

Kikyo did as she was asked—all but the "quick" part, anyway. With worried glances to Kagome's face every few seconds to ensure she wasn't causing her pain and cautious, hesitant presses of her fingers, Kikyo risked not getting a perfect image of the injury in her mind for the sake of sparing Kagome minor pain. Kagome explained to her that this was unacceptable.

"Think of it this way, dear," she tried. "You're very worried about sparing pain, yes? But if you don't fix the entire problem correctly from the first, the residual effects could cause the victim even more pain for a very long time. The rest of their life, even. Think that you are causing them a momentary discomfort, in exchange for a lifetime of well-being. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Kagome-sama. That _does_ make me feel better."

"Good, now answer my question. Did I tear a muscle?"

"No, it's very shallow. You've broken a small blood vessel, though, I think. It bled more than it should have for such a shallow cut."

"Very good," the kami praised. "Now, I'm going to heal it this time, and I want you to watch what I do, because I want you to try the next time."

"Next time? Kagome-sama, you don't have to hurt yourself for me. I can learn without—"

"Kikyo," Kagome cut her off. "It is fine. A minor cut, no worse than you get when traipsing through the forest. I hardly feel it. It's worth it to me to help you learn."

"...Yes, Kagome-sama."

"Now," the older priestess began, shifting her sitting position to more easily reach the back of her shin, "what is the first step to healing with reiki?"

"Summoning up your reiki," Kikyo answered promptly.

"And?"

"And thinking of something that makes you want to help."

"Very good. I draw up my power," Kagome did this as she spoke, "and think of something the brings me compassion. I know, from your examination, that this is a minor cut. Only a broken blood vessel. I picture the injury in my mind and imagine it slowly healing, the shorn edges of the cut vessel coming back together, the blood flowing properly once more, the surrounding tissue losing their waterlog and decreasing swelling."

As she imagined all this, Kagome held her hands over her injury. They glowed a calm, light blue with her power. Kikyo watched, fascinated, as what Kagome imagined aloud actually happened.

"I see the skin slowly knitting back together, gently covering the now-healed vessel and resuming its normal appearance."

As she had said, Kagome's cut slowly closed of its own volition. A scab hadn't had the chance to form in the time it took from injury to healing. The blood hadn't even completely stopped flowing. There was no white scar when Kagome was done, only perfectly healed flesh, as though her cut had never been there.

"That was a very small injury, of course," the older priestess concluded as she relaxed her hands from their pose. "It will be far more difficult with broken bones, or punctured organs. But I have faith that you'll learn with practice. Are you ready to try now?"

"Yes, Kagome-sama!" An eager light lit the girl's eyes, matched only by her reticence to hurt her beloved teacher.

"All right, here we go."

Kagome once more pressed the arrow head to her flesh, perhaps digging a little deeper than last time, but not much. She wanted Kikyo only to begin to understand the process. She couldn't start too big. Kikyo examined her tiny wound with more ease this time, more confidence in her prodding and gentleness. When she had completed her assessment, she sat back and looked at Kagome for permission to proceed. Kagome nodded.

"All right, I summon my reiki," Kikyo muttered to herself, doing so as she spoke. Kagome smiled as the watched the little girl recite her thoughts aloud. "And think of my mother... I can see the cut in my head, what's broken..."

She continued mumbling under her breath as she worked, her hands hovering with a pale blue light over Kagome's leg. A frown lit her face, her eyebrows drawn down in deep concentration. Kagome watched the entire process, more proud than she had expected when Kikyo recited and completed her lesson with ease.

"Very, very well done, Kikyo," she praised when all was said and done, and her leg was once more perfect. "I am so proud of you."

"Thank you, Kagome-sama." Kikyo smiled, but it seemed weak. "You were right. I do feel tired now though."

Kagome nodded. "It will take practice and skill before you can truly master this, and move on to other body parts and bigger injuries. You'll have to study the human body in much more detail. But I have no doubt you'll be fine."

"Will you help me?" Kikyo pressed.

Kagome hesitated, honestly unsure. She had promised her mate, and herself, that she would not visit the girl many more times. It just wasn't a smart way to expend energy, on a young mortal who would likely be gone before many more years passed, especially at the risk it posed Kagome to make the trip. Kagome had taught her one vital skill, something none other could have imparted, something that would hopefully grant the girl and her sister a long, easy life free of pain. That was the extent of her duty.

But if she were being perfectly honest, she would miss the little girl. There was something about her that was so like her Inuyasha, and even Sesshōmaru, that she couldn't help but be endeared. Kikyo was so small, so helpless, but so determined to not be seen as weak. She wanted nothing more than to protect her sister and be safe herself but she held those desires with such fierce, sheer will. Kagome could only wonder at what kind of woman this waif would become. A powerful priestess, of that she had no doubt. And then there was that strange feeling of premonition she had about the girl, that she was destined to do something great...

"I will _try_ to come see you again, Kikyo," she finally answered, as honest as she could, "but it has become difficult for me to make such journeys. I have much to learn about my own power. Only then can I come to you again. Do you understand? I make you no promises, but I will certainly try with all that I am to see you at least once more."

Deeply disappointed, fighting back tears, Kikyo nodded. "I understand, Kagome-sama. We'll both practice hard and learn a lot for our next meeting."

Kagome nodded her agreement, though she knew it was unlikely that she'd ever see this child again. "Yes. Listen to your teachers here and learn as much as you can. Treat everything you encounter as an opportunity to learn more. If you do that, you'll become so strong that none could threaten you or Kaede."

"Thank you, Kagome-sama. For everything."

Placing a hand on the girl's head, Kagome lamented, "I only wish I could do more for you."

* * *

Discontented and guilty, Kagome made her way home. Sesshōmaru awaited her in their shared room, as she expected. But he didn't _look_ as she expected. He'd caught her time traveling despite her promise; she would have thought he'd punish her with his usual stony silence and frosty gaze. Instead, he looked downright livid. Stunned, she could actually see some of the red of his yōki bleeding into his eyes.

"Sesshōmaru? Are you all right? What is it?"

In an instant, he was before her. His yōki, normally so calm and placid that she hardly felt it, scratched incessantly against her reiki. Instinctively, it rose to fight off the threat, but she tamped it down. There was no threat. Even insane with fury, Sesshōmaru could never hurt her.

"I realize that you have _no_ concept of self-preservation whatsoever," he snarled, eyes flickering dangerously, "but I had thought you would at _least_ be able to keep your word."

Feebly, she tried to protest, "I never actually _promised_... we just sort of reached an impasse..."

She knew that was the wrong response when he had to jerkily turn away from her to contain himself.

She reached after him, pleading, "What is it, Sesshōmaru? It's never bothered you this much before. I promise this time, I won't do it again until I've found another method. Except maybe if it's a real emergency, but other than that—"

"No," he growled, turning back to her. Unsurprisingly, his eyes were still flickering between white and red. "You _will not_ travel through time again. At all. I don't even want you 'appearing,' or even traveling in the normal way. You will stay here, where you can be protected until this is over."

Kagome felt her own ire rise to match his commanding tone. "Until _what's_ over? You're acting like a lunatic! And don't you dare presume to order me around, Sesshōmaru! I am not one of your servants, and I won't be spoken to like one—!"

"Silence!" he bellowed, and out of shock more than anything else, she obeyed. His eyes were now completely red with infuriated yōki but somehow, he was maintaining his human form. He crossed the room to stand before her again, growling, "It must be your half-human heritage that makes you so obtuse. Have you truly not noticed? I have known for almost a week now."

"Well, of course, then, that makes you _so_ superior," Kagome snapped back, his anger making her own temper flare. "A whole _week_."

Her impudence, especially when discussing something so important, was not to be endured. Not by him, not now.

"You are with child, you foolish woman!"

Stunned silence greeted this announcement. Kagome's mind froze, then kicked into double-time, whirling around in a circle at a dizzying speed. With child? Impossible! When had her last monthly been? Six weeks ago? Seven? It was too soon to tell, and to her mind it was an impossible feat anyway. They had never taken any measures to prevent conception, so why would she fall pregnant now, almost fifty years after their marriage? Impossible. He was deluded, or insane.

But as she whispered the words to herself, _I'm pregnant_, she felt a flood of emotion she hadn't experienced since the night she mated Sesshoumaru for the first time. It felt so _right_. She was _happy_.

Slowly, she said it again, testing the words, "I'm pregnant?"

"Yes."

Breath quickening in a sudden rush of excitement, wonder, and hope, Kagome met her mate's eyes with a beaming smile and clarified, "We are having a baby?"

"That is typically what 'with child' infers," he agreed warily. He was thrown off by her sudden switch from seething anger to blinding happiness, and he wasn't sure he trusted her current mood to last.

She stepped closer to him, her hands coming to rest gently on his upper arms as she repeated redundantly, "We are having a baby."

Then the dam broke. Throwing herself against his chest, her arms around his neck, she blinked back tears of excitement, wonder, happiness, and more than a little fear as she cried, "We are having a _baby_!"

Slowly, she felt his arms come around her. Gently at first, as though afraid she'd return to anger if he touched her, then firmer, holding her against him.

"Yes, we are."


	12. Announcement

**Dear readers,**

_Once again, it has been a ridiculously long time since I updated. But on this, I have at least some good news mixed in with the bad._

_As I've said before, I'm a junior in nursing school. Luckily, I've worked hard enough up to now that I will graduate early - this December, in fact. Once I'm done with that, my schedule will finally be normal and continuous; none of this 16-hour day here, and wake up at 5am day there, with precious few days away from work and school in between._

_My current semester hasn't been as hard as those in the past (though nothing in nursing school can be considered _easy_), and so I've been dedicating some of my free time to **revamping this story**. I feel that my writing has grown since I last updated, and I want this story to reflect those changes. Don't worry for the integrity of the characters/plot, nothing of that nature will change. I've just noticed going back through _What If?_ how much more I could have written._

_I will re-post each chapter as it is finished, and once I am done with the revamping, I will finish editing the new chapter I have drafted and post that. I won't give any promises as to a time frame, but I hope to be done with everything fairly soon. I have a nice 9-day break rapidly approaching, and I hope to dedicate a lot of my time to fun things like this story!_

_Thanks for hanging on with me, especially to Glon Morski, who repeatedly brings me back to this story (thankfully!) when I've lost track of time to my studies and two jobs. _

_Thanks so much, and I'll see you all again with an upgraded story and a new chapter as soon as possible,_

_Shelby_


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